A Troublesome Situation
by Kryzanna
Summary: When Naruto had followed Sasuke after class one day, he'd never expected to wind up abducted and trapped with him. Their friends are worried, but when the only cop they can trust runs into trouble of his own; what can they do? Outwit the kidnapper, of course. Hopefully they succeed before anything... interesting...happens... Contains yaoi AND LEMONS. SasuNaru KisaIta HidaDei
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to this fanfiction.  
****A brief announcement: **

**This fic stems from a request from ColorlessXrainboW; so all credit for this idea goes directly to them. I am rather excited to have been entrusted with writing this; (shout-out for giving me the chance). I hope I can do it justice and that you all enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto **

**WARNING: will contain YAOI and **LEMONS** **

_**ColorlessXrainboW; this is for you. **_

* * *

Naruto's eyes fluttered open and then closed again. That slight movement caused him far more discomfort and pain than he was used to; but he repeated the motion nonetheless. Unable to see anything but blackness, he was convinced for a brief moment that he'd gone blind. But then as his aching eyes adjusted, he discovered that he was just somewhere incredibly dark.

Wherever he was, it was moving. This was indicated by the way that his prison kept moving from side to side; his head alternating between smacking into carpeted wall and something far more flesh-like beside him. He could smell petrol, and he could hear the sound of an engine.

…A car boot? Was he in a car boot?

He tried to move his hands and was almost overcome by a second panic attack when he discovered that his hands, and indeed his feet, were immobilised by something incredibly tight. His head slammed hard against one of the walls as the car turned a sharp corner and he groaned in a low voice. He could feel hair that wasn't his own brushing up against his forehead as he was tossed around inside his cage.

His head throbbed viciously and spots appeared in his vision. What did he know? Well; he knew that his wrists and ankles were bound, and that he was inside a car boot. He knew there was someone else in there with him. And he knew that something had just gone very badly wrong.

It had been such an ordinary day too…

* * *

_**Earlier that day. . . .**_

Explosive laughter filled the air of the main lawn on the University of Suna campus. It had just hit one thirty in the afternoon on a normal Wednesday in the middle of the university semester. It was a beautiful day; a bright clear sky and a soft breeze to counter the warmth from the sun. Another round of laughter assaulted the eardrums of anyone in the immediate vicinity of the lawn; causing freshmen to stare and seniors to glare in annoyance en-route to the cafeteria or between classes.

The source of such a ruckus was a small group of friends sitting on the edge of the lawn. They were sophomores; all out enjoying their break before their next class; and the loudest of them was Naruto Uzumaki.

"Would you cease that insolent racket?" Neji Hyuuga complained in a cold voice; looking up from where he was already started on the homework he had been assigned half an hour previously in his History of Law class. The long-haired brunette flinched as, despite his request, Naruto burst into another round of laughter; guffawing like some kind of animal at an impression of one of his teachers done by his best friend, Kiba Inuzuka.

"Oh come on; lighten up, Neji," Kiba complained good-naturedly; giving him a toothy grin that was not returned, "Seriously, man? It's lunch time! Take a break from all that study!"

"Some of us are at university to actually pass," Neji retorted irritably; swatting the boy who was lying next to him on the grass; staring up at the clouds, "Shikamaru; we have an assignment due in two days."

"…I'll do it tomorrow," Shikamaru shrugged lazily; his tone indicating that he couldn't care less about what was due when, "It's lunch time. Relax." Neji made an annoyed noise and turned back to his book; noting in approval that his cousin, Hinata had followed his example and was also starting on her homework.

"Hey, Hinata; you don't have to do work now just because Neji's doing it," Tenten commented kindly from where she was lolling on the nearby stairs; chewing on a sandwich.

"I-I want t-to keep up w-with Neji," Hinata replied shyly; gracing her friend with a brief smile before shyly returning to her workbook. Tenten huffed hot air before sighing in boredom and proceeding with lunch; noting that Kiba had suddenly developed a wicked gleam in his eye.

"Hey, look, there's Sakura!" the brunette suddenly yelped, pointing dramatically.

"Where?" Instantly, Naruto's head snapped around in the direction Kiba had indicated; hoping to be the first to welcome over the pink-haired beauty. He was sorely disappointed as his gaze met empty courtyard. Crossly, he spun around; only to let out an annoyed squawk with the discovery that Kiba had stolen his satchel.

"Oi! Give that back, you mutt!" he hollered; leaping up from the grass and racing after Kiba, who was prancing around across the grass and flamboyantly scattering loose sheets of paper as though they were flower petals at a wedding.

"Look at me! I'm Naruto!" he exclaimed in a poncy voice, "I carry a man-purse!"

"It's a satchel!" Naruto exploded; having already had enough of this mocking from the previous year. "It is –"

"…Functional and fashionable…" Tenten and Shikamaru droned back; used to his typical defence. The pair of them look over to see that Kiba and Naruto had apparently broken into some manic game of chase; where Naruto's aim appeared to be to pick up all his notes whilst at the same time trying to reclaim his bag. Kiba was obviously winning.

The brunette sprinted up the slight slope; hurdling the railing with ease and further taunting the blonde from the top of a trashcan.

"Too slow!" he cackled; leaping down as Naruto aimed a swipe at his feet. Deciding that he'd aggravated the blonde enough for the day, he tugged the bag off his shoulder and flung it towards him as he sprinted back down the stairs. Naruto managed to catch his bag; but in the process, somehow stumbled and went plummeting down the short flight of stairs to land in a crumpled pile of paper and bruised limbs.

He let out a low groan and a curse as he spied a pair of stylish shoes only inches in front of his nose. Having an incredibly bad feeling, he looked up to see a pair of black eyes staring down at him from a pale face bordered by dark bangs; eyes dripping with condescension. His bright blue eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Watch where you're going next time; moron," the raven snorted; tossing his head and promptly stepping _over_ Naruto on his way up the stairs. The blonde had half a mind to trip the smug bastard.

" –Naruto; why do you always have to act like such an idiot when Sasuke's around?" a voice scolded him from somewhere in the vicinity of above him.

Naruto rolled onto his back and discovered that from his spot on the ground, he caught quite a nice view of three girls; two of whom were wearing skirts. The pair of them gave high pitched squeals before the blonde one; Ino; promptly stamped him in the face.

" –You pervert!" she snapped hotly as Sakura and Temari; the other two girls, headed over to sit on the grass with the rest of them; accompanied by a white-haired boy who had taken to hanging out with them.

"…It's not my fault…" Naruto complained; holding his throbbing head as he sullenly went round to collect his notes, "Kiba made me trip! It's not like I get in that bastard's way on purpose!"

"Sure it's not," Sakura chuckled, "Just like how you don't try and beat him to class; or how you compete with him in every test; or how –"

"Someone needs to remind him that he's not as great as he thinks he is," Naruto sniffed crossly, "I had to deal with his high and mighty shitty attitude all through high school; I didn't think I'd have to in college as well!" He looked mock hurt for a moment, "Sakura! It's not nice to tease! But I'll forgive you if you come for coffee with me after class?"

"I'm busy," she replied with an apologetic smile and Naruto sighed melodramatically at what he thought must've been his thousandth rejection since he'd first started crushing on her when he was fourteen. Kiba clapped him on the shoulder as he sat down; having finally managed to get all his notes back.

"No chance in hell, mate," the brunette reminded his friend; as he always continuously reminded him that Sakura Haruno was _way_ out of his league.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Naruto chuckled with a shrug, "One day she will love me back!" he declared with a wink over at Sakura. She chuckled at his enthusiasm but shook her head apologetically. "God; why does she have to be so nice about it?"

"You're hopeless," Ino rolled her eyes as Temari scolded Shikamaru for sleeping instead of doing his assignment.

" –What's the problem with Sasuke this time?" Suigetsu inquired curiously; having noted the exchange between raven and blonde. Whereas the rest of the group had all known each other from high school, he'd met Sasuke at college and had only started hanging out with them because they were a little more…_lively_ than Sasuke.

" –Naruto's inferiority complex is acting up again," Shikamaru commented flatly from where Temari was apparently using his face as a suitable book-rest. "Seeing Sasuke seems to remind him of how much better he was than him in high school; right?"

"_Shikamaru_!" Naruto complained; pouting, "He was _not_ better than me!" They all sniggered at the poor blonde's expense as he folded his arms like a child being made fun of.

* * *

It just so happened that Naruto and Sasuke had a few of the same classes; one of which happened to be after the lunch break. Naruto always chose to sit a few rows behind the Uchiha because that gave him a prime spot for glaring mutinously at the back of his head. The current reason for his Uchiha-related displeasure was because he'd gotten an eighty-nine on their most recent assignment.

Sure, that was a good mark; but upon listening intently to the people in the rows in front of him, he discovered that Sasuke had scored a ninety-two.

So there he was; shown up by Sasuke-freaking-Uchiha once again; just like in everything in high school. Girls; grades; sports –Sasuke Uchiha had been king of them all; Naruto merely a jester next to him. And college was no different; except for the fact that the raven had become a lot more withdrawn; actually physically removing himself from social situations as opposed to high school where he'd at least accepted their company. Mister prodigy was just too good for them all…

"…Oi; take a picture; it'll last longer," an icy voice commented snidely, and Naruto realised that he'd been staring darkly at Sasuke for quite some time now; long enough for the raven to have turned around and discovered that he was being watched.

"Tch…shut up," Naruto snapped; people around him sniggering at his absolutely sub-par comeback. Flushing at having been caught, he sat back; trying to maintain his dignity. Out of the corner of his eye he spied Sasuke returning his attention to the front of the room with a smug smirk plastered across his apparently 'handsome' face. What was so great about the bastard, anyway? So what if he had perfect, silky hair; or mysterious, pale skin –_tans were in anyways, right?_ Why did chicks dig that bastardy, 'I'm too cool for you' attitude? It didn't make him mysterious; it made him a dickhead…

Naruto's mental rant, (not the first of its kind) continued for the majority of the class; his attention only returning to the lecture in time for him to hear that class was over. With a great deal of relief, he packed up his things and headed out into the hallway; noticing that Sasuke had pulled out his phone and was apparently engrossed in the conversation.

"_Sasuke? So we're still good for tonight_?" Itachi, Sasuke's brother, inquired from the other end of the line.

"Yeah; tonight's good for me," Sasuke replied in a low tone. Naruto strained his ears to hear, but couldn't tell what was being said on the other end of the phone.

"_ –And you understand about coming alone_?"

"Of course; don't worry. It'll just be us," the raven muttered.

"_Good. I'm glad I finally get to see you, little brother_."

"You too," Sasuke sniffed; though the sentiment was slightly forced. "Six o'clock. I won't be late. I'll meet you there."

"_ –I'm sorry I haven't contacted you sooner_," Itachi added apologetically, "_Don't worry; I'm very interested in the information you might have_. _Sorry I've have to drag you into this."_

"I understand," Sasuke assured him, "I know you've been busy. I'll see you later. We can talk then." On that note, he ended the call; leaving a very curious Naruto leaning around the corner. Was that possibly a _girl_ Sasuke had been talking to? Had to be! He had girls hanging onto his every word; he could totally be dating one in secret!

A horrifying thought suddenly occurred to him.

What if it was Sakura?

It totally could be. She was in quite a few of his classes; they were often seen together. She had been the president of his fan club at high school and she seemed to be one of the females he tolerated the most. And she had declined Naruto's invitation on a date because she was busy later that night!

The more Naruto mused, the more he decided that this was a distinct possibility; and the more suspicious he became. Of course; it could be some new girl; someone he didn't know about…but _more likely; _it was Sakura.

And to be fair…whether or not it was Sakura didn't _really_ matter. He was just very curious about who Sasuke would stoop to dating (because no one was _actually _good enough to date mister 'holier-than-thou'). Not to mention there was a little bit of jealousy flung in there over the Uchiha having a love life when Naruto's had been a flat line practically his entire life.

So of course Naruto vowed to do what any normal person would've done with this precious information.

He decided to follow Sasuke Uchiha after class.

It was a good thing that their last class of the day was together at four o'clock.

They were let out at five; all of the students clumping together to comment on how boring their lecturer was; or deciding to walk home together. Not Sasuke; he wandered off campus alone, with Naruto trailing at what he deemed a sensible, non-suspicious sort of distance. Every so often he would duck into a nearby shop for a moment; pretending to browse for something on his way home; despite being headed in the opposite direction of his house.

They'd been walking for quite some time. It was getting dark and Naruto didn't know where in the city they were. The buildings were starting to look a lot seedier and he was beginning to pass shady people standing under streetlights. He pulled his thin jacket tighter over his shirt and cursed himself for thinking this was a good idea. There was no way Sasuke would be meeting a classy lady like Sakura out here!

…Maybe he was meeting a prostitute!

But up ahead, Sasuke seemed to be on edge; checking from side to side carefully. Naruto quickly ducked into an alleyway to avoid being seen. As he peeked out from around the side of a brick building; he saw that finally, Sasuke had stopped. Interesting? What was going on? What was a good college student like him doing loitering in such an unsavoury neighbourhood? This wasn't about a girl; that was for sure.

That was when a dark, beat up car drew up beside him. Sasuke turned sharply; and his body language instantly tensed as he backed away. Something glinted in the fading light and Naruto recoiled in shock.

_That was a gun_.

That was definitely a gun.

If his eyes had been playing tricks, his suspicion was confirmed as someone huge leapt out of the back seat of the car; grabbing Sasuke roughly around the chest. The Uchiha was obviously struggling; kicking out, but his attacks having little to no effect on such a huge attacker. He gave a wild yell; desperately trying to break free. There was no way this was something friendly.

Shit! He'd been hoping to catch Sasuke in some kind of compromising situation...but he hadn't been prepared for something like this! What should he do?

"Oi!" Naruto shouted; not using his head, as per usual, as he leapt out from his hiding spot and charged headfirst at the attacker, "Get off him! Let him go!" It took him only seconds to reach the pair locked in a tussle, and he managed to take the bigger man by surprise; if only for a moment. Adrenaline shot through him as he flung out a punch; feeling it connect with a jaw with a satisfying thud.

"Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed in shock as he looked over; a massive hand clamping hard on the back of his neck as he tried to writhe from his assailant's grip. Naruto; ignoring the cry; aimed a hefty kick at the shin of the huge man. It connected, but the force reverberated up his leg and he was the one that cried out in pain.

It took only that split second of distraction for something to take hold of one side of his head. Then the side of his head connected violently with something _hard_...

…And that was probably when he blacked out and was thrown into a car boot like some kind of useless sack; doomed to drift in and out of painful consciousness throughout the uncomfortable trip.

Why he was in there, and where they were headed, he didn't know.

* * *

**A case of wrong place, wrong time? Naruto seems to have gotten himself into a sticky situation. Where's he being taken? And by whom? And more importantly... what's going to happen to him? **

**Review, review; and the chapters will roll on in. Hope you've enjoyed the start!**

**xx K**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to chapter two; many apologies for keeping you waiting. What's gone down? Where is Naruto? Is there any hope for getting out of this messed up situation? **

**Warning; contains a bit of a familiar, foul-mouthed perv with no one to censor his bad language.**

* * *

The constant sound of water dripping slowly woke Naruto from an incredibly uncomfortable sleep. He shivered; his eyes desperately trying to flicker open but struggling with such a simple task. His brain felt like it had been cracked and scrambled. He let out a low moan; his head lolling backwards loosely. Unfortunately, it connected with something hard.

Something hard that _also_ let out a muffled groan.

Slowly, things began to become a little clearer to Naruto. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, it became apparent that he was shut in a small room; a small room with thick metal walls; water dripping from the outside. The ground that he was haphazardly sprawled on was cold; and there was rope around his waist; locking his arms behind his back.

"Nnn…." came the groggy groan from behind him once more. Naruto wriggled a little; trying to look over his shoulder, but accomplishing nothing but getting a small amount of rope burn. He made an annoyed, complaining noise and fidgeted again.

"…Oi; quit that," Sasuke Uchiha's annoyed voice commented and he made an exasperated sound. Did the universe really hate him _this much_?

"Shut up, you bastard, and help me get out of these ropes," Naruto growled crossly; twisting again and realising that all that happened was that he ended up rubbing up against Sasuke's back; their hands linking together. "Don't touch me!"

"You're the one fidgeting; moron," Sasuke snapped back irritably, "Stop it! We're tied together! Even an idiot like you should be able to grasp _that_!"

"Well, at least I'm trying to do _something_!" Naruto complained; his head throbbing uncomfortably and causing him to let out a groan.

"You're just making it worse!" Sasuke growled as the blonde fidgeted even more and caused the pair of them to topple sideways onto the cold floor. They both let out a groan as their aching heads connected with the hard ground. Naruto went limp in exasperation.

"…Where are we?" he asked in a small voice; just lying there with his cheek pressed to the floor. There was silence for a moment; probably while Sasuke was listening to something that would give away their location.

"I don't know…" he eventually muttered out; sounding annoyed with himself for having tarnished his all-knowing image. They both sighed heavily, and then Sasuke added suspiciously, "What are you doing here?"

"W-What am I doing here?" Naruto stammered, "I um…I was just…what are _you_ doing here? You don't sound surprised about this…"

"You didn't answer my question," he retorted flatly.

"Well, I uh…" the blonde stuttered, "…I…I don't have to explain myself to you!"

"Why were you following me?" Sasuke instead inquired directly, and Naruto made a shocked, sheepish noise before being instantly annoyed that the raven had known the entire time that he was following him. He made a grumbling sound under his breath and tried to roll back into a sitting position; only ending up toppling back down again.

"…I heard you on the phone and thought you might be meeting up with Sakura for a secret date," he finally muttered in embarrassment. Sasuke made a scoffing noise.

"Like I'd ever date her," he snorted condescendingly.

"Why wouldn't you?" Naruto snapped irritably, "She's beautiful, smart, funny, kind…"

"Not my type," Sasuke retorted flatly, but refused to elaborate further on the matter. "…You followed me because you thought Sakura was meeting me? What a stalker."

"Shut up!" Naruto growled, "I was curious! And it's not fair that she likes you!" If his arms hadn't been bound, he would've childishly folded his arms. "…And anyway…what were you doing out in that part of town when those people got you?"

"…Meeting someone," he replied vaguely.

"Who?" Naruto demanded, "Oh come on, Sasuke! I tried to help you; the least you can do is tell me what's going on…"

"Why didn't you go for help, idiot?" Sasuke grumbled.

"I…I just acted, _okay_?" Naruto complained, "Jeez; give a guy some credit for trying, why don't you?"

"Tch," the raven scoffed; not going to point out that had Naruto ran for it, he might've been able to escape and actually save Sasuke…as opposed to ending up in the same situation as him. "Fine. I was meeting Itachi."

"Itachi…your brother?" Naruto inquired.

"…How many Itachi's do you think I know?"

"Hey; no need to be a dick about it," he complained flatly, "Oh…so that was what I heard. What were you meeting him in a place like that for? Isn't he a cop?"

"_Was_ a cop," Sasuke corrected, "He's left the force because he thinks something shady is going on." He sighed, "…Since I've been working as an intern there, I'm keeping an eye on things for him."

"Cool! So you're like an informant?" Naruto inquired; interested but annoyed that Sasuke-bloody-Uchiha had something that made him even cooler than before.

"I guess so," the raven shrugged, "…I suppose this means that Itachi will come looking for me since I didn't show."

"…But do you know why you were abducted?" the blonde asked, "It'd have something to do with the cops, yeah?" He felt Sasuke nod. "Do you know who it is?"

"Not completely sure," Sasuke frowned, "I just know that there _is_ something going on…" There was a sudden clanging from somewhere in the distance; the sound of a door being open. Naruto squirmed and Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the motion. There was cackling laughter, followed by an annoyed growl.

"Let go of me, you asshole, yeah!" someone was snapping angrily.

" –Aw, little blondie's getting feisty," a gruff voice drawled, before lowering into a husky growl, "I like that."

"_Get your hands away from me_!" the first voice shouted; voice indicating that he was struggling.

" –Hidan; you promised you wouldn't harm him," a thick voice growled warningly and Sasuke recognised that voice with a jolt of shock.

"Yeah, yeah; fuck off Kisame; a little shoving isn't going to damage his fucking pretty little face," the man, who was apparently Hidan, snorted back. There was another slam from somewhere incredibly close; followed by the sound of something human-sized being flung roughly to the floor.

"Fuck you, Hidan, yeah!" the apparently 'pretty-boy' snarled as a door was slammed shut on him.

"Shut your whore mouth," Hidan snapped, "Nice catch with the Uchiha kid, by the way, 'Same."

" –Don't call me that," Kisame growled darkly. Hidan gave a sharp cackle.

"Oh why not, buddy?" he smirked, " –For old time's sake? Anyway; what the fuck was with grabbing that fucking blonde kid? He's worthless."

"He hit me," the other man retorted, "And he might've gone for help. I thought it best to apprehend him as well."

"Ahh well," Hidan yawned, "Y'know, you'd make a fucking good henchman. Position's always fucking open for you."

"I am here to ensure the safe release of Deidara; _not_ to help you," Kisame reminded him in a dark growl. "I got the Uchiha like you wanted; you have to hold up your end of the bargain."

" –Oh, did I not mention that the brat's capture wasn't the only thing I wanted?" Hidan smirked, "Silly me." Footsteps were heard walking away, followed by a loud thud as it appeared that Kisame had made a lunge forwards.

"Don't fucking _think_ of betraying me, Kisame," Hidan warned in a growl as Kisame made a muffled choking noise, "I've still got all your little fucking secrets to destroy the rest of you motherfuckers with. Remember that. Kakuzu; let him go. Hit him if he starts fucking talking back."

Another slam echoed through the area; indicating that whoever those people were, they were gone; and had left someone in a prison much like their own. There was a hacking cough from the other side of the room and Naruto's head shot up in interest.

"Hey?" he called out, "Hey? You there? Are they gone?"

"Probably; what do you care, yeah?" a bitter voice replied; tone tinged with pain.

"I was just trying to be nice, jeez!" Naruto snapped, before realising that he should probably treat the situation more delicately. "…Sorry…" There was a long pause.

"…Sorry," came the response.

" –My name's Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto commented, "I'm trapped in here; tied to Sasuke Uchiha."

"Uchiha?" the stranger's ears pricked up at the name, "So you know Itachi, yeah?"

"How do you know Itachi?" Sasuke scowled.

" –Oh…so _you're_ the one they kidnapped, yeah," the voice muttered in understanding, "So you must be the cop's intern?"

"…How did you know that?" Sasuke asked darkly.

"You should be more careful," he chuckled in response, "They were onto you; that's why you're stuck here."

"Onto me?" Sasuke muttered.

"…Then why are _you_ here?" Naruto asked curiously. The other person sighed in exasperation.

"I might possibly supply the police force with information on criminals, yeah," he commented flatly.

"What, like a snitch?" the blonde remarked.

"I'm not a fucking snitch, yeah!" he exploded, "…I'm just trying to save my ass, okay?"

" –So what's been going down with the police force?" Sasuke scowled darkly, "There's something wrong, right? That's why Itachi quit? Cops turning dirty?"

"Sure there's something wrong, yeah," the other man snorted, "And well…as for cops turning dirty…Yeah, I suppose that has something to do with it. Hidan was a cop too. Got himself fired for tampering with evidence."

"So why kidnap us and hold you hostage?" Sasuke frowned.

" –Grudge?" he guessed, "I don't know; the man's a lunatic, yeah." There was another long pause. "I'm Deidara, by the way."

" –Kisame…" Sasuke frowned to himself, "…Kisame Hoshigaki?"

"Yeah," Deidara sounded a little surprised that he recognised the name.

"…He was my brother's partner before he quit the force," Sasuke frowned, "Why would he be working with that guy –"

"To protect Deidara, obviously," Naruto scoffed, "I thought you were meant to be a _genius_, Sasuke. That Hidan guy would probably know other snitches –"

" –I'm not a fucking snitch, yeah."

" –Since he knows Deidara and since he used to be a cop. He could be threatening to expose them or something; so Kisame's working for him to make sure that doesn't happen," he finished; rather proud of his deductive abilities.

"Shut it," Sasuke snapped, "Deidara; could Hidan be blackmailing other members of the police force?"

"Likely, yeah." Sasuke cursed and began muttering to himself phrases that Naruto only caught brief snatches of; things like: '_that would explain the money_' and '_he could be manipulating arrests_' and '_Itachi was right to be suspicious_…'

"Oi, bastard; would you quit whispering like a creep?" Naruto complained, "This is all your fault we ended up like this…"

"My fault?" Sasuke growled, "You didn't have to go and follow me! You should've gone –"

"Well what if I hadn't followed you; you would just be stranded here…"

"Itachi was expecting me. He'll come looking."

"What if he can't find you?"

"…I take it you guys aren't friends, yeah?" Deidara chuckled dryly. The pair of them stopped squabbling for a moment; shoving each other immaturely and realising that they'd both been trying to jam each other's face into the floor. Feeling a little embarrassed that he was acting so childishly in such a terrible situation, Naruto sighed heavily and tried to calm down. Deidara suddenly let out a loud cough; followed by a moan of pain and something that sounded suspiciously like spitting out blood.

"So what are they going to do with us?" Naruto asked in a small voice; the gravity of the situation actually beginning to hit him. He was trapped in what was possibly a small shipping container; another prisoner in the crate over. He didn't know where they were, or if he was even going to get rescued.

"I don't know, yeah," Deidara shrugged; coughing again, "Hidan likes to get a bit rough; but if he thinks he can use you guys as bargaining chips, he won't kill you." Naruto's blood ran cold.

" –But what if he can't?" he asked quietly, and he felt Sasuke stiffen. He lowered his voice; talking only to the raven, "…He needs _you_…I'm just a nobody…I don't even have a family that would pay a ransom…"

"We'll figure that out later," Sasuke muttered.

"He'll just kill you," Deidara shrugged, in response to the blonde's question. Naruto gulped and suddenly found that his body was beginning to shake nervously. Panic started to well up in his gut again and he could swear he could hear his own heart racing. That Hidan guy needed Sasuke; he needed to know information, and the Uchiha's were filthy rich. But as for him; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was disposable.

"Calm down, Naruto," Sasuke whispered; in a voice that strangely lacked the usual Uchiha bite. Naruto felt something grip his wrists tightly; a kind of unusual form of comfort. "Itachi will come looking. You will be _fine_." There was something in the calm reassurance of the voice of his rival that actually made Naruto believe him, despite the fact that Sasuke's own hands were shaking.

* * *

"Shikamaru Nara?"

There was a loud snort as Shikamaru woke up from his sleep with a start. He sat up sleepily; rubbing his eyes as the rest of his tutorial class stared at him. He blinked several times; a blank look on his face as the tutor repeated his name.

" –There's someone here to see you," the tutor informed him. He yawned and staggered to his feet; slouching his way down towards the door. As soon as it closed, he realised that there was someone standing in the hallway; someone with long dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail and a very familiar face.

"Shikamaru?" the man inquired in a deep voice.

"That's me?" he replied lazily.

"Itachi Uchiha," he introduced quietly.

"Oh…you're the guy who worked with my dad," Shikamaru remarked curiously as Itachi nodded, "…What's up?"

"I believe you know my little brother, Sasuke?"

"Yeah; haven't seen him for a day or two though," he replied, "He doesn't usually miss classes."

"That's what I'm here about," Itachi frowned; making a note in a small notebook whilst nodding to himself, "I have reason to believe that he has gone missing. He was supposed to meet with me two nights ago but didn't show; and he would not have missed the meeting."

"…Actually, I haven't seen him since then," Shikamaru admitted, "I couldn't tell you where he might be; you'd have to ask Naruto about that."

"Naruto…Uzumaki?" Itachi queried.

"Yeah," he replied, "He kind of goes out of his way to inconvenience Sasuke; which means that he usually knows where the guy is." Itachi chuckled to himself.

"Sasuke talks about a boy of that name quite often," he admitted, "He seems to find him quite a nuisance."

"That'd be Naruto…"

" –But it was also the reason I sought him out first; I thought he might be able to tell me where my little brother is…" Itachi frowned, "I found his apartment, but no one had been back in two nights." Shikamaru frowned to himself. That wasn't like Naruto. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the blonde in a few days as well.

"I have reason to suspect that Sasuke is in trouble," Itachi informed him, "Would it perhaps be _possible_ that Naruto followed him into it?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Shikamaru admitted with a short laugh, but then saw the serious face that the older man was wearing, "Why? What might have happened?" Itachi paused a moment before replying.

"A few months ago, I quit the force and became a private detective because I suspected that some of the force had turned crooked," he replied softly, "Sasuke was already working as an intern at the station so he became my eyes. He never showed up to meet me." Shikamaru frowned to himself; mulling over this possibility.

" –Why are you telling _me_?" he inquired flatly.

"I worked with your father a little; a good man, so I trust his son," Itachi replied, "I am also aware that you are friends with both Sasuke and Naruto and so therefore I can rely on you to be concerned for them." He paused again and scrawled down a phone number.

"I am going to try and find them," he assured Shikamaru, "I cannot let anything happen to them. I needed to inform someone of this; in case I fail. If a day goes by without you hearing from me, then assume that I have failed and inform your father."

"…But if I involve him, I can't let the police get involved; since you suspect them to be responsible for Sasuke's disappearance, right?" Shikamaru commented flatly. Itachi nodded approvingly. "Right. No cops. What do I get my dad to do?"

"Not act too quickly; I wouldn't want to put too much pressure on anyone; should they be involved," Itachi replied, "…And with minimal involvement of others. I've heard very good things about you; Shikamaru Nara, and I believe that I can trust you."

"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, "Is it possible that they've just had a fight and run off or something?"

"There is a possibility that I am worrying over nothing," Itachi admitted sternly, as he began to walk away, "But I must explore the possibility of foul play involved. There are dangerous men out there, and I can't be sure that my old comrades on the force will be on my side." Shikamaru just stared after the elder man as he headed off down the corridor again; kind of unable to believe exactly what had just happened.

What had he just become a part of? Had he just agreed to help a mysterious man he barely knew? Were Sasuke and Naruto genuinely in trouble, or was this some kind of trick? And in any case; what was _he_; a second year university student to do about this sort of thing? But knowing Naruto, this could be the real thing. Trust that blonde to wind up in over his head.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" he grumbled, scratching his head, "…Troublesome."

* * *

**Trust Naruto to not take such a situation seriously; his rivalry with Sasuke really is all-consuming, isn't it? Or will he actually start taking this threat seriously?**

**As for Shikamaru suddenly finding himself involved in a secret investigation... well, as he said, it's all rather troublesome; but Itachi's going to take care of it for sure, right? **

**Feel free to review; hope you've been enjoying; what exactly is going on in the situation? And how on earth are they going to get out of it? **

**See you next chapter **

**xx K**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello my bunnies; chapter three for your reading pleasure: a little bit shorter than the two previous; but setting up for some action (yay). Please review; I love reviews, and I'm sure that ****_ColorlessXrainboW_**** would also love to know what you thought of their story idea -or at least how it's going so far. **

**Since I've escaped from university and into holidays, I'll maybe be updating faster *smiles***

* * *

"Oi, moron; quit it, would you?" Sasuke complained crossly as Naruto insisted on wriggling in his ropes. His arms had a small amount of rope burn but he was actually making progress. It turned out that only one of his hands was bound; and it was in fact, connected to one of Sasuke's by the set of handcuffs they were imprisoned by.

Having discovered this, it gave him a renewed sense of determination; and had almost managed to extract one of his arms; albeit having done so with minimal accidental groping of Sasuke's ass (especially since he would receive a vicious headbutt to the back of the head whenever he did it. "Hey, it's not like I'm _trying_ to grab your ass!" Naruto would always exclaim angrily in his own defense. "Tch. Like I believe that," Sasuke would scoff arrogantly in return; tempting Naruto to just pinch him hard as a punishment -though he refrained from doing so. He didn't want to be known as the guy who pinched Sasuke Uchiha's ass.)

"Well if you were _helping_, then I wouldn't have to try so hard," the blonde snapped back irritably; his arms absolutely aching. He gave a triumphant cry as he finally managed to yank his free arm loose of the rope tying him back to back with Sasuke.

"What do you plan to do now?" Sasuke inquired flatly in a tired voice; having been accidentally hit in the head by the blonde's flailing limb. He'd apparently been trying to get some sleep for quite some time –but had been interrupted by Naruto's struggling. Neither of them knew quite how long they'd been held captive for; Naruto wasn't known for wearing a watch and Sasuke's had broken in his fight against Kisame. But they were both exhausted.

And sleeping for more than a few hours at a time really wasn't a very good option when they were tied together.

In response to Sasuke's question, Naruto stretched his arm out; his shoulder joint clicking with a satisfying crack. He pulled against the rope, noticing that he now had a small amount of room to work with…

"Stand up," Naruto commanded.

"Why?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"Just come on," he muttered; attempting to stand.

Unfortunately, with Sasuke not ready for that, he just ended up toppling the pair of them sideways with an ungainly 'oof'.They could hear Deidara sniggering from the next 'cell' over and Naruto harrumphed in annoyance.

"We need to find a way to get out of here," he muttered.

"And how are we going to get out of here?" Sasuke inquired flatly as they managed to lever themselves back into a sitting position, "It's locked from the outside, obviously!"

"We'll figure out a way," he snapped, "I'm not just going to sit around and wait to be killed! Now; push against me so that I can stand!" Sasuke sighed heavily; knowing that Naruto was right. Getting rid of the rope was a start; it would be good to have a stretch at least. Then they could maybe sleep and have a good think about a plan to get out of this situation.

After several failed attempts and several harsh plummets to the ground, they finally found themselves standing back to back.

"Okay…I'm going to try get out of these ropes…" Naruto muttered, and before Sasuke could protest, immediately began wiggling downwards; tugging on the ropes to try and get them over his chest. Slowly; ever so slowly, they began to give.

He slid slowly down Sasuke's back; wincing at how much the rope was burning as it rubbed through his clothing. He could feel Sasuke's taut back muscles (jeez, how often did that guy work out?) and finally; _finally_, he slid the ropes over his head in relief; sitting on the floor with his arm at a weird angle since it was still connected to Sasuke's.

"I'm free!" he exclaimed in elation; swinging around to face Sasuke; except that the raven had also chosen that moment to turn in his freedom.

The result was that their connected hands dragged Naruto forwards…

…Face first into Sasuke's crotch.

Sasuke cringed in pain; automatically grabbing the blonde's head to remove it from the head-butt. Naruto, completely off balance; tumbled forwards once more; knocking Sasuke backwards onto his ass.

"Moron!" Sasuke snapped aggressively as he raised his head; feeling weight against his crotch again. He felt red rising to his cheeks as he looked down and saw that Naruto's face, for a second time in only a couple of minutes, was pressed between his legs far too intimately.

"Get off me!" Sasuke complained; yanking his hand up to try and forcefully dislodge the blonde. All this accomplished in doing was dragging Naruto's arm slightly further up; his cheek rubbing up against the line of Sasuke's zipper. Naruto's eyes widened at the realisation that he was becoming far too acquainted with Sasuke's crotch.

" –Sasuke; what the fuck?" he complained; reeling backwards in horror and mortification as he realised the position he'd just been in.

Having apparently not learnt his lesson about their hands being connected, Sasuke was dragged up by the flailing gesture; and was only prevented from slamming his body fully into the blonde by firmly planting a hand on the wall either side of Naruto's head.

Naruto gulped; Sasuke's face hanging far too close to his.

"Quit it," the raven snarled; his cheeks actually dusted a light pink. Naruto nodded politely as Sasuke sat back on his haunches and averted his eyes; Naruto blushing furiously. It was silent for a moment as Sasuke coughed awkwardly and sat up properly; trying to avoid remembering the image of Naruto's face pressed into his crotch.

"We're free," Naruto pointed out once the awkward silence had become too awkward to remain silent.

"Yeah…apart from these handcuffs…" Sasuke muttered; shaking the hand that was connected to Naruto. "I suppose there's not much we can do about them…" He stretched and clicked his neck and shoulders in relief. The crack echoed through the silence rather ominously as Naruto chucked their ropes aside; unable to believe that a stupid bracelet of metal had managed to cause them such problems.

In the distance, they heard the sound of raised voices.

* * *

"What do you _mean_ there's someone in the fucking building?" a platinum haired man snarled aggressively at his lackeys present in the room.

" –I…I just looked away from the security cameras for a second and…" there was a yelp as Hidan smacked his subordinate in the face aggressively.

" –We can't fucking have people just fucking snooping around," he growled angrily, "Kisame; get them, would you? That Deidara's got a fucking mouth on him and I can't risk that they've already heard something."

" –Hidan; I've already done more than you've asked," Kisame snapped mutinously, only to have Hidan's purple eyes turn to him dangerously.

"Do as I fucking say, or the pretty blonde loses his head," he remarked sadistically, "Him and the rest of your little fucking moles that I know _all_ about." Kisame gritted his teeth; about to refuse; but he had promised to make sure that Deidara got out of all of this alive. He was still a cop, dammit; even if Hidan was making sure that they all felt like criminals. He turned around and stalked away; his shoulders tense with anger as Hidan cackled maniacally.

" –There's only one…as far as I can see…" Tobi whimpered; recoiling in case Hidan tried to take another swing at him, "But there could be more. The security cameras aren't very good."

"That's because fucking Kakuzu is a fucking stingy asshole," Hidan growled in annoyance; glaring over at the man whose face was hidden by a thick balaclava. Apparently Kakuzu didn't seem to care what Hidan thought.

"Bring them back alive," Hidan drawled, "Lock them in the holding room downstairs; we don't want to draw attention to ourselves with a body do we…Well…actually, I'd fucking like to kill something…but not at the moment…"

Kisame clenched his fists and slammed the door behind him. He hated having to work for Hidan like this; the guy was a piece of trash. He'd been toying with the police force for months now, since he'd been fired. He'd been forcing them to alter evidence and make false arrests…because he knew all about their moles; he knew about all the people in witness protection. They had to pay him off to keep that damn mouth of his shut; and it was making him feel like a piece of shit.

He slowly began making his way downstairs. Before Hidan had punched Tobi, the guy had mentioned movement down on the first floor of the old concrete warehouse. Hopefully the guy had hightailed it out of there by now…that'd save a lot of trouble. It was true that Deidara loved shouting down a storm, but he was being surprisingly quiet for the moment. Maybe he hadn't heard anything.

On the second floor, Kisame sensed movement.

It was only slight, but he heard the sound of soft feet skittering across the floor. His eyes narrowed. Not good; this person was deliberately sneaking around. With his jaw set, he silently began the search for the intruder.

That intruder just so happened to be none other than Itachi Uchiha.

He'd followed the GPS given off by his brother's phone. It was probably not on him, but it was definitely a starting point. He'd followed it to this old warehouse out in the abandoned industrial area outside the city; a place that barely anyone ever went unless they were up to causing mischief, though sometimes teenagers were known to go there for a private place to make out. He'd never seen the appeal. The place was a dump.

He'd already done a quick scan of several of the buildings in the area, but they appeared too run down for any kind of criminal activity to be taking place.

But this one; this was different. It had been difficult to find an entry point, and he'd spotted security cameras; instantly making it more suspicious. The hallways were dark and cold, but he'd seen a light on in one of the upper rooms. Someone was definitely in the building, and he was beginning to wonder if they'd already noticed his presence.

His foot scuffed a piece of uneven ground and he stiffened; the sound seeming far too loud in this empty corridor. Shit. He'd only meant to come in and have a quick scout to see if there was any sign of Sasuke, but since the ground and first floors had been so deserted, he'd gotten ambitious and gone one higher.

These floors showed signs of being used; the walls were much dustier than the floors, and the overturned crates had been moved slightly; allowing for a makeshift path. He couldn't tell how many there were, but he'd picked out at least half a dozen shoes of different sizes and gait lengths from the imprints in the dust.

He was at a disadvantage having no backup and not knowing the layout of the building. For all he knew, there could be someone stalking him in the shadows.

He had a very nasty feeling that there was.

Itachi suddenly froze; making absolutely no movement. Nothing echoed back at him as he slowly let out a long breath. This wasn't the first time he'd suspected that he was being followed; after being a cop so long, his hearing, when focused, was highly sensitive –and he could usually pick up on other's footsteps in the distance.

Then why did he feel so uncomfortable?

He spied a nearby air vent, loosely hanging from the wall. Perfect; if he could just climb up that, he could work his way through the ventilation system…being a slim cop had its advantages. Tentatively, he moved forwards.

All of a sudden, he found himself caught tight in a chokehold by huge arms and he gasped for air; kicking backwards with all his might. There was a low grunt, but no other noise as his attacker surrounded him in a brutal embrace; preventing all movement. He struggled; panting out loud and trying to worm free. He was a very good fighter, but whoever it was that had caught him was incredibly strong, and incredibly resistant to pain, it seemed.

It didn't take long for Itachi to pass out, and as soon as he crumpled, Kisame released him; the smaller man's body going limp. Kisame's sighed to himself. Of course it was Itachi. He'd suspected as much –seeing as he'd kidnapped his little brother. Itachi would do anything for Sasuke…

And his suspicion had been confirmed only a moment ago when he'd tried his 'musical statues' move –as Kisame had called it when they had been partners. Even in the gloom, that stance had been unmistakeable. So many times Itachi had been able to pick up on whether they were being followed...

Wincing in pain –because Itachi had actually being doing damage with his vicious elbows and aggressive heel-strikes –Kisame picked up the Uchiha and flung him over his shoulder unceremoniously.

Hidan was going to love this.

His assumption was very right. Hidan was overjoyed.

"Aw Kisame; I'm _so_ glad you were the one to catch the fucking Uchiha," Hidan cackled as he admired the raven tied to a bolted-down chair in the middle of an observation room, "Hope you refrained from any _inappropriate_ touching while you had him unconscious," he added snidely, "Although, if it were me, I'd be taking full advantage of the opportunity –I mean, he's a pretentious motherfucker, but his ass…"

"Shut up, Hidan," Kisame growled threateningly.

"Ooh; getting a bit sore are we?" Hidan mocked, "Don't worry; I'll let you go in there and have a chat to him sometime soon. You can…help yourself…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kisame snorted; averting his eyes and looking down through the one-way window to where Itachi was out cold; head hanging forwards limply. Hidan had made sure that he was completely, _utterly_, securely restrained; because Itachi Uchiha was renowned for escaping sticky situations like this.

He hated seeing Itachi like this. Caged. It didn't seem right.

" –I'm not fucking stupid, Kisame," Hidan growled, "Even though you guys aren't partners anymore, anyone with fucking _eyes_ can see that you've got a wee…_soft spot_ for Itachi-fucking-Uchiha…" He chuckled to himself, "…And maybe a _hard spot_ for him too…"

"You shut your mouth, Hidan," Kisame warned darkly; fists clenching again in anger.

" –Or what?" he hissed, "So much as touch me, and I'll have Kakuzu or maybe Kabuto tear out your pretty Uchiha's throat while you watch. And if you try kill me, I'll start spouting names and secrets for all I'm worth. And I _do_ have a plan for if I just so happen to wind up dead." Kisame made an aggravated noise; turning his back on the ex-cop and stalking from the room as Hidan cackled gleefully at having yet another card to play against his unwilling henchman.

* * *

Shikamaru checked his phone for what felt like the umpteenth time; a nasty feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

It had been two days since Itachi Uchiha had recruited him. For both those two days, as promised, the private detective had called to let him know what was happening and that he was still alive. That seemed to be all good; he seemed to have a fairly good idea where Sasuke might've been being held, and was going to pursue that line of inquiry. Shikamaru had been relieved that Itachi knew what he was doing. Much better to let someone else take care of such a troublesome problem.

The problem was…Shikamaru hadn't received a call from Itachi today…and time for that call was running out very fast.

* * *

**Oh dear. Oh dear. What have we here? Four prisoners, a crazy ex-cop and only a lazy college genius to figure out how to get through this situation. What's a Shikamaru to do when he has so little to work with? How with Sasuke and Naruto deal with their imprisonment? What's going to happen to Itachi? **

**If you stick around... you might just find out. *wink*wink***

**All my love**

**xx K **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four, chapter four. Naruto and Sasuke's imprisonment continues. And what will become of Itachi? And what will Shikamaru have to do since that call from Itachi isn't coming?**

**Read on. . . . . . . . .**

* * *

Naruto could hear his own teeth chattering violently as he and Sasuke sat back against the cold wall; trying to get some sleep. It had to be night time now -probably after midnight; the temperature had dropped drastically and he just couldn't seem to warm up.

He couldn't tell how long they'd been held prisoner. Sometimes they were brought a meal, but it was at irregular intervals and so there was no way for them to keep time. It had rained for a little bit; the sound of water dripping incredibly irritating and a very unwelcome constant noise.

"That's it; I'm taking the bed," Naruto declared suddenly, unable to bear this any longer. The ground was uncomfortable and he ached. He'd been eyeing up the small, dingy cot for a while. It had only a small, single blanket, but anything was better than this for the time being. Both he and Sasuke had openly been considering the option of the bed, but it was really too small for the pair of them to both lie on without it being awkwardly intimate.

"What makes you think you should get it?" Sasuke immediately growled; standing up at the same time as the blonde to dispute his right to the bed.

"Well, were you going to take it?" he snapped irritably.

"I was being polite," the raven sniffed; causing Naruto to scoff at the very notion of Sasuke Uchiha being _polite_. "But since you've decided that it's acceptable for just one of us to get sleep, then I might as well challenge you for it."

"Challenge me?" Naruto snorted, "I call dibs."

"What are you, six years old?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You can't just 'call dibs' and expect to get it."

"But calling dibs is a universally accepted rule!" Naruto complained as Sasuke stalked over to the bed and swung his legs up onto it; leaving the blonde looking down at him in much irritation. Fine. If Sasuke was going to call him a child, then he was going to act like it. Without a word, he grabbed the raven's leg and yanked it hard; dragging the Uchiha off the bed and causing him to fall roughly onto the hard floor.

"What the fuck was that for?" Sasuke snapped as Naruto took a seat on the bed and tested the thin mattress experimentally. Blue eyes looked down at him innocently.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he mocked, "Just because you challenged me for the bed doesn't mean I'm going to let you have it." Sasuke's dark Uchiha eyes glared up at him aggressively; his competitive nature flaring into life. He tugged with the hand that was connected to Naruto's by the handcuff. Naruto pulled back; not yielding as Sasuke got back to his feet.

And thus, a childish game of tug of war began; Naruto digging his feet into the ground to try and maintain his spot on the bed and Sasuke pulling on the handcuffs with all his might to dislodge him.

"Stop pulling, bastard!" Naruto complained, "I said I wanted it first!"

"I was actually _on_ it first!" Sasuke shot back crossly.

"You cheated!"

"I saw an opportunity, and I took it, moron!"

The banter continued; insults being flung back and forth to try and break the other's concentration. All of a sudden, Naruto's feet slipped, and he lost his footing. Sasuke gave a triumphant growl as the blonde tumbled forwards head-first and practically head-butted him in the face as they plummeted to the ground. Naruto landed sprawled over Sasuke; straddling his waist ungainly, and his hands pinning the raven's to the floor.

"I win!" he proclaimed in delight, despite the fact that his own blunder had led to this situation.

"I don't think so!" Sasuke growled, immediately wrenching up and throwing his weight to one side; winding up hovering over the blonde this time as they rolled violently across the floor. Naruto lurched up; head-butting the raven in the chest and winding him. While Sasuke was trying to catch his breath, he leapt up; only to have Sasuke grab his waist and drag him back to the ground to perch in his lap with back pressed to the other man's chest.

"Let go!" Naruto growled fiercely; only for Sasuke to fling him to one side and make a dive for the bed. Naruto managed to catch his ankle and the raven tripped; clattering to the ground in a heap in a comedic fashion. Despite that, Naruto found himself unable to make a break for the bed, since Sasuke aimed a vicious kick at his ankles and tripped him.

Again, Naruto wound up straddling him; panting heavily from their scuffle. There was a dramatic pause in their fight; blue, exhausted eyes peering down at the pale man beneath him. He was shaking; his body hungry and tired from lack of food and sleep. He shifted slightly; making sure that for the moment at least, Sasuke was immobilised.

"Get off me," he growled flatly; averting his eyes and shifting uncomfortably. Of course, that just caused Naruto to put more pressure on his hips; convinced he was trying to break free. Sasuke was glad for the slight darkness because at least this way, Naruto wouldn't see that his cheeks were slightly pink. If he was being honest, he didn't so much mind the weight on him.

Naruto's jeaned thighs were cold, and he felt bad; already hearing the blonde's teeth chattering again.

"…You can have it," he finally muttered guiltily, and knew that Naruto was staring at him in disbelief. "The bed. You can sleep in it."

"What? You mean it?" Naruto queried incredulously.

"Yes, now shut up and get off me," Sasuke snapped irritably, hearing Deidara chuckling from over in the next cell. "Shut up, Deidara!

"Good to see the two of you are finally getting along, yeah!" the other prisoner was laughing, "What, you don't want to cuddle? Snuggling will help you conserve heat, you know!"

"S-Shut up," Naruto growled in irritation as he got up with relief and lay down on the dirty cot; dragging the blanket over himself. He cringed because it was slightly itchy and not exactly clean, but it was at least a bit warming than the atmosphere, so he was grateful. "We're not going to _snuggle_!"

"Aw," Deidara chuckled cheekily, "I wouldn't mind getting spooned by an Uchiha, yeah. Bet he's got nice arms; and a pretty face…"

"You don't call dudes 'pretty'," Naruto snorted as Sasuke curled up against the wall beside the cot; having to stay in relatively close proximity because of the handcuffs. "So you know Itachi?"

"Well duh," Deidara rolled his eyes, "He was one of the cops I reported to. Nice guy, yeah. Hot as fuck." Sasuke made an annoyed, scoffing noise as he closed his eyes and tucked his knees up to his chin to try and warm himself a bit more.

Deidara fell silent fairly quickly; apparently trying to get some sleep as well. Naruto lay on the cot staring up at the roof; unable to sleep despite warmth returning to his body. The bed wasn't overly comfy, but that wasn't why he couldn't sleep.

Now, Sasuke's teeth were the ones chattering. Naruto could hear the chains of the handcuffs rattling as he shook. He closed his eyes for the umpteenth time to try and block out the sounds of the other man's discomfort, but couldn't manage to. With a heavy sigh, he rolled over so that he was facing the wall; jerking Sasuke's hand with him.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke growled flatly. Naruto mumbled something in response. "…I didn't hear that."

"You're cold," Naruto muttered in embarrassment, "You can have some blanket."

Sasuke looked up at the blonde's frame; shrouded in the itchy blanket, and his eyes widened as he noticed that he'd actually moved to make some space for him on the cot.

"I'm fine," he assured him flatly; the lie blatantly obvious as his voice shook with the cold.

"Liar. Get in the bed," Naruto ordered; closing his eyes again and refusing to ask again. After a few moments, he felt a body move beside him as Sasuke gave up on his foolish pride for the moment and joined him on the small cot. Because of the way Naruto had chosen to lie on his side, Sasuke was forced to lie facing the blonde's back; making very sure to keep his hand in a safe region of mattress as he pulled the blanket up over himself.

Naruto relaxed; glad that he wouldn't be responsible for Sasuke getting hypothermia. There was something a little reassuring about having him lying there behind him. He felt…_safe_. Heat was radiating between them; warming their cold bodies. Also, there was something soothing about feeling a warm breath on the back of his neck. The quiet rhythm was strangely comforting, and as he listened to it, found himself properly drifting off into sleep for the first time since this stupid nightmare began.

* * *

While Sasuke and Naruto finally managed to sort out their sleeping arrangement, elsewhere in the building, Itachi Uchiha was waking up.

He coughed as he took a shuddering, conscious breath. His windpipe ached; he must've been choked out. An experimental tug by his arms as he blinked blearily informed him that he was tied up. Damn! He'd been foolish to think that he wouldn't have been discovered. He was getting too cocky!

Vaguely, he noted a large shape standing in the corner of the room, but his eyes were still busy adjusting to the mixture of light and dark that he couldn't focus on it too clearly. His ears were certainly working well though, because he quickly became aware that he was being called by name.

"Itachi Uchiha…" the voice was saying, and he flinched; recognising the voice. "…I should've expected you to turn up at some time or other…"

"Ki-Kisame…Is that you?" he managed to croak out; his eyes fluttering as he tried to get his bearings. He was obviously in some kind of holding room; a mirror in front of him that was blatantly a one-way window.

"I'm sorry, Itachi," Kisame murmured; moving into the light. Itachi looked up at him, coldly; his eyes focusing on the figure and recognising his face.

"What's going on, Kisame?" Itachi demanded to know; pulling at his ropes again and determining that there was no way he was going to be able to slip loose. Kisame, as his old partner, really did know all of his habits and tricks.

"I suppose you're looking for your brother," Kisame growled flatly; folding his arms in front of his chest and gritting his teeth.

" –What…what do you know about Sasuke's disappearance?" Itachi inquired coldly. Kisame averted his eyes slightly; knowing that Hidan was watching. He wouldn't take kindly to him exposing everything to Itachi. Sure, he valued the partnership that he'd once shared with the Uchiha, but for the time being, his responsibility was to ensure that Deidara got out of this alive, and that Hidan didn't compromise their entire department. So he had to put his personal feelings aside...as much as possible.

"I know all about it," Kisame assured him flatly, "Seeing as I was the one who abducted him." Itachi's eyes widened in shock and slight confusion.

"What are you talking out?" he snapped, "Why would you kidnap my brother? Aren't you supposed to be a cop?"

"He was getting too close," he retorted coldly, "Something had to be done with him."

"Something had to be…Kisame; if you've killed my brother, I swear to _god_ you will pay," Itachi threatened darkly. Kisame had no doubt that he would keep his word. When it came to Sasuke, there was nothing Itachi wouldn't do to protect (and if it came to it), avenge him.

" –He's still alive," he informed him in a gruff tone, "But that could change very quickly. Your interference has been noted, Itachi, and it's really been messing things up."

" –Since when do good cops resort to kidnapping college kids?" Itachi snapped.

" –Since it became advantageous for us," he replied, not missing a beat, "Being honest isn't the best way to do things these days."

"I was right to leave the force when I did, then," Itachi muttered mutinously, "I can't believe it…good men I knew, turning corrupt…"

"Times change. Situations change, Itachi," Kisame snorted contemptuously; unable to look the fierce Uchiha in the eye. Those deep, black eyes were full of betrayal and anger, and he couldn't stand to see it directed at him.

" –So there have been dirty dealings going on in our department," the raven growled; his bangs hanging down over his face messily, "How could _you_ fall for them, Kisame? I thought you were above this sort of thing! We were _cops_; we're meant to protect people from villains; not become them!"

"Well, if you were such a fine cop, then why did you bail when you thought something was going on?" Kisame snapped back; Itachi's words stinging. Itachi gritted his teeth; hating that he had brought up this point.

" –I didn't want to see the job I loved become something evil," he muttered, "The bad guys were winning, and we were just letting them. No one listened to me; they were too busy siding with the enemy."

"Maybe if you'd stuck around, you could've dealt with us like a cop, and your little brother wouldn't have been dragged into all of this," Kisame smirked, "My boss hasn't decided what to do with him yet; so if you co-operate with us, you might just be able to save him."

"For Sasuke?" Itachi whispered, "…Anything. If becoming a criminal would save my little brother…then I would do it in a heartbeat. But I will hate you forever; and one day you and your boss would pay the price for threatening him." Kisame truly admired that about Itachi; his unconditional love for his brother. He didn't know if he could deal with Itachi's hatred though.

"…If I was becoming a problem; you should have come straight to me," he growled, "You should _never_ have brought Sasuke into this!"

"You brought Sasuke into this," Kisame reminded him darkly. "You were the one who put him in danger."

"Because I never thought that my old comrades would fall _this far_!" Itachi snapped, "I thought they were involved in tampering with evidence, maybe; but definitely not so far as to threaten peoples' lives!" He panted heavily; his voice still croaking, and his eyes glaring up at Kisame accusingly; indicating that he felt personally wounded by his old partner falling from grace.

Kisame had taken a few paces back from the Uchiha; not trusting himself to be closer. He hated seeing Itachi like this; trapped. It was difficult to see him like that. It was true that Hidan might try and recruit Itachi, and Kisame knew without a doubt that if it would assure Sasuke's freedom, then Itachi would take that deal; even if he had to hate himself the rest of his life. Because Itachi believed in justice; he believed that they could win against criminals.

That was what had made him such a good cop; and why he had hated to suspect the force of turning dirty.

"I thought you were a good man," Itachi spat as Kisame turned his back, "…I guess I was wrong."

"I suppose you were," Kisame murmured bitterly as he left the room; leaving Itachi to stew until Hidan decided to approach him. It was strange for Itachi to say such things; to be so dark. He'd always been so collected; so rational…except of course, when it came to his little brother.

* * *

"You're kidding, right?" Kiba deadpanned as he and his friends sat around Shikamaru's dining table; all completely gobsmacked by what the lazy genius had just finished saying.

"It's troublesome, but it's all true," he yawned in response, "And since dad's been called out to the other side of the country, he can't help us; at least not until he gets back."

"…So what you're saying is that _we_ are the only people that know what has happened to Naruto, and Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha?" Sakura inquired warily; still not knowing whether or not to believe this news. "I mean…I was getting worried about Naruto and Sasuke…but to think that they've been kidnapped…"

"Dad talked about Itachi sometimes," Shikamaru informed her, "He said he's a good man and an even better cop. He would never lie about something like this. And I didn't hear from him yesterday; so he said that I should assume that he's…in trouble."

"…So why are _we_ here, then?" Ino inquired flatly, "Why are you telling _us_? I know you said you can't go to the cops…but what are _we_ supposed to do?"

"We have to save them; obviously," Kiba muttered with an incredulous sigh, "That's your plan, right, Shikamaru?"

"I suppose," Shikamaru sighed heavily, "Someone has to do it; and with Itachi out of action, what choice do we have? I don't know how long dad's going to be away, and we don't know how much time Naruto and Sasuke have –"

" –Don't say it like that!" Sakura exclaimed hotly, "Don't say that like they're going to…"

The word 'die' hung in the air like a suffocating fog, even though she didn't utter it.

"What do you have in mind, Shikamaru?" Temari asked sternly; all business.

" –Tem, you can't seriously think that _we_ can do anything?" Ino blinked in shock.

"Well, we can't do nothing," she sniffed flatly.

"Temari's right," Neji frowned, "Knowing what we do, we can't just wait for them to turn up…" The word 'dead' hovered over them and he averted his eyes as apology for almost saying such a thing.

"We can at least do a few things to help dad, if he gets home soon," Shikamaru muttered, "We can find out where they are, and we can find out how many of them there are; moving on from that if it's possible. I've already got several plans in mind, so we can start there."

" –Are we about to mess with criminals?" Tenten whispered in disbelief.

"I believe so," Neji informed her blankly as Shikamaru began muttering some of his proposed ideas to Temari; who nodded, her brow furrowed in concentration. "With Temari and Shikamaru planning this, hopefully none of us wind up killed or captured."

"_Killed or captured_?" Hinata whispered in shock and Neji nodded shortly.

"Don't worry; we'll ensure that we use the plan that will assure our greatest gain, but with minimal risk," Temari assured him. They all exchanged looks in shock and gulped nervously in apprehension. Kiba let out a low breath to steady himself; reminding himself that this was to save their friend. Naruto would definitely have done the same for them; by himself, if it had come to that.

"Okay, so we have to assume that they're armed…" Shikamaru mused as he adopted his thinking position.

"Armed?" Kiba spluttered weakly. "Oh we are so in over our heads…."

* * *

**Sasuke and Naruto are finally learning that co-operation is probably a good thing in this situation; and poor Itachi, 'finding out' that his old partner has 'turned into a crook'. [Poor Kisame]. Will Shikamaru and the others be able to figure out a way to save them? What can a bunch of college kids do? **

**Find out soon!**

**Don't forget to review.**

**Thanks for reading! **

**xx K **


	5. Chapter 5

**Ah, you are as patient as ever; and I believe that patience should be rewarded; so here we are. Chapter Five. **

* * *

When Naruto woke, he was surprised to discover that his cheek was pressed against something that was pleasantly warm. He let out a contented mew; his eyes fluttering shut again as he nuzzled into his pillow. That was strange; his pillow in his bed was usually a lot softer…but this was comfortable too.

Blue eyes suddenly snapped open in horror as he belatedly remembered that he wasn't at home in his own bed; he was trapped inside a shipping container and sharing a tiny cot with Sasuke Uchiha. His eyes confirmed the worst as he noticed that whilst sleeping, he had rolled over; flinging an arm across Sasuke's chest; so now his hand was gently fisting the raven's shirt. A shocked 'eep' escaped his lips as he released the shirt; feeling a strong arm wrapped around his shoulders.

Not making any sudden movements, Naruto slowly turned his head and found himself looking up at Sasuke's thankfully still-sleeping face.

Oh god.

So much for not snuggling! His heart began to race.

Not knowing what else to do; he violently jerked backwards with a wail; his back connecting hard with the wall. His movement dragged Sasuke with him; the raven rudely jolted from sleep by the cry and the sudden movement. His face connected with the crook of Naruto's neck as he was yanked up into sitting position.

"…What the hell…" Sasuke groaned sleepily against Naruto's bare skin as the blonde let out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his head. A slight shiver ran down the back of his neck as he felt Sasuke's warm breath tickle his skin before the raven drew back; looking at him in annoyance.

"I…" Naruto scrambled for an excuse, "…I had a…nightmare…"

Black eyes looked at him flatly for a moment before looking away in annoyance. Sasuke turned his back on the blonde and ran a hand through his messy hair as he yawned. Naruto sighed in relief that he'd managed to cover up the fact that he'd been practically clinging to his arch-rival in his sleep.

Anyway, that was normal in this sort of circumstance, right? He was feeling kind of scared…things were stressful and foreign. Sasuke was nothing if not familiar, and it was just reassuring to have someone there next to him. That had to be it. He was subconsciously looking for someone to keep him safe…

_That didn't make it better either!_

He didn't want or need _Sasuke-fucking-Uchiha_ to keep him safe! He shuddered again and brushed off his shoulders hurriedly; as though this would rid him of the thoughts he was currently occupied with. Sasuke looked at him as though he'd gone mad and rolled his eyes. Suddenly, they heard a door open down the hall.

Naruto let out a surprised squeak when Sasuke suddenly leaned in incredibly close, whispering, "…I'm going to try surprise him when he comes to the door," as explanation for why his lips were almost brushing against Naruto's ear. The blonde unconsciously shivered slightly as the pair of them slunk over to the door.

Something was thrown into (or at) Deidara, and a few moments later, their door was unbolted and pushed open.

Sasuke paused a moment; his eyes narrowing, then he lunged forwards without warning; aiming to stun their handler with the attack.

Hidan let out a cruel laugh as his foot connected brutally with Sasuke's stomach; sending him flying backwards and crashing to the ground in a heap; Naruto staggering after him.

"You kids are fucking pathetic," Hidan drawled, "You don't think princess next door to you hasn't tried that a hundred times? Don't make me laugh." He leered down at them dangerously, scraping off his shoe as though Sasuke was dirty, before adding, "…I think I'm not going to feed you today…just for being insolent brats…"

"Hey!" Naruto snarled angrily; anger igniting in him as he watched Sasuke drag himself to his feet; coughing and wheezing from such a crushing kick. Before Hidan knew what was happening, the blonde had lunged himself forwards –aiming for a swift punch to the bigger man's face.

Had he had enough sleep and not been starving, and had there not been a huge weight dragging him back, the punch might've connected. As it was, Hidan dodged the blow and immediately retaliated with a swift head-butt to the side of his face.

Blinding pain shot through Naruto's face as he staggered back; white light flashing before his eyes. His head spinning, he distantly heard Sasuke yell something; and the handcuffs jerked from some force before the door slammed shut again.

Naruto toppled to the floor; completely dazed by the harsh hit. He let out a low groan as his vision and hearing began to return to normal, and noted that Sasuke was sitting up against the wall beside him.

"N-Naruto?" Sasuke coughed out; spitting out a mouthful of blood, "…You okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Naruto stammered; slowly levering himself into sitting position and clutching at his aching face. "…Your lip's bleeding."

"…I'm aware," Sasuke muttered as he spat out another mouthful of blood. Naruto was glad they hadn't drank both bottles of water they'd last been brought, and he managed to reach it; offering it up to the raven to rinse his mouth out a little.

"He kicked you pretty hard…" Naruto commented with a small frown as Sasuke clutched at his abdomen in pain. "Let me see it."

"I'm fine," Sasuke snapped; waving him away; dabbing at his bleeding lip with the collar of his shirt.

"Oi; just do it," Naruto growled back crossly. After a moment, Sasuke relented and drew his shirt off over his head. Naruto winced at the angry red mark that was already quite prominent on Sasuke's pale skin. The kick had broken the skin as well, and it was oozing a small amount of blood. Without consulting Sasuke, he hurriedly ripped off one of the sleeves of the raven's shirt and dampened it.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke snapped irritably; only to then find that Naruto was washing the wound with gentle, deft fingers. The blonde looked up and saw black eyes soften slightly at the kind gesture. He flinched slightly when he felt something tracing his injured cheek.

"…Sorry…" Sasuke muttered; obviously thinking that it was his touch that had bothered him.

"No, it's fine," Naruto assured him quietly, "It just hurts." More tentatively, this time, Sasuke's thumb traced his cheek.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sasuke snorted darkly, "It was stupid. You're lucky he didn't break your nose." For just a moment, their eyes met.

"Well he didn't," Naruto growled; the first to look away, "And you were the one who seemed to think that jumping him was a good idea!"

"How was I supposed to know it wouldn't work?" he muttered back; dabbing at his lips again and taking a small drink of water. Naruto looked up as he did so, and was a little surprised to find that his gaze lingered on Sasuke's lips for just a moment longer than he should've –at least long enough for Sasuke to quirk an eyebrow at him.

It was because he had a cut…that was all…

"Sorry about your shirt…" Naruto remarked sheepishly as he tore off the other sleeve and pressed it to the wound as a makeshift dressing –even though the wound wasn't all that deep. He was suddenly very aware that his hands were pressed to Sasuke's taut abdomen –god he could feel his abs.

Suddenly, Sasuke moved his hand and placed it on top of Naruto's and the blonde found himself actually _blushing_ at the contact.

"I'm fine," Sasuke assured him; removing the hand from his stomach and finding it a little amused that he was embarrassed. Naruto just averted his eyes; holding the water bottle to his face since they didn't have an ice pack. It stung a little bit, but distracted him from the fact that he really hadn't minded Sasuke's soft touch on his cheek, or on his hand just then.

It was cabin fever, right? You get shut in somewhere together and you start to go crazy?

Did cabin fever make your heart race when you woke up in someone's arms?

* * *

Itachi spat out a mouthful of blood as he peered up at a crack in the roof. It was night-time again; sun had probably just gone down. How long had Hidan been at this? He barely felt the next blow to his face; just took it without a word. His entire body was just in generalised pain now; and he wasn't going to give Hidan the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.

"You thought you were so fucking clever," Hidan smirked cheerfully as he aimed another kick to Itachi's shin. He was being very sure not to damage the Uchiha's eyes –he wanted him to be able to see his smirking face no matter what he did. "Getting me fired. You could've kept your fucking mouth shut and avoided this whole fucking situation." He sighed again; giving his fist a shake. He'd been using Itachi as a punching bag for quite some time now and it was actually starting to hurt _him_. He could say what he liked about him; but Itachi could take a punch well.

"…Although…I suppose…" Hidan suddenly gave Itachi an aggressive kick to the stomach. Since the chair was bolted down; Itachi received the entire force of the blow and couldn't help but double over as best he could while tied up; coughing up blood. "I'm rich thanks to you."

Itachi couldn't suppress a lot groan; looking up with angry, tear-filled eyes to see Kisame leaning against the wall behind Hidan; gaze averted and unable to look him in the eyes. Suddenly, the door to the room was flung open and one of Hidan's lackeys –Itachi didn't know his name –stuck his head around the corner.

"Hidan?" the man asked quietly, "…There's a car in the area."

"What?" Hidan snapped.

" –We can see headlights," the man explained, "It's probably just kids screwing around but we thought you might want to check it out." Hidan made a disgusted noise and seemed to be in two minds about what he should do. After taking several conflicted paces he scoffed and headed for the door.

"Fucking kids," Hidan muttered, "Who the fuck would bring a chick out _here_ to fuck them…Kisame, keep a fucking eye on the Uchiha." Kisame didn't respond but Hidan just shot him a warning glare as he slammed the door shut behind him.

Kisame just stared down at Itachi guiltily before averting his eyes. He could see the raven's head lolling lazily and knew he was on the brink of unconsciousness. He hated seeing his ex-partner like this. Hidan had been brutal in his blows. When they'd been working together, Hidan had always felt as though Itachi was looking down on him and had resented him for it.

Now, he was getting payback for that. And he was making Kisame watch; knowing that while he had Deidara, he couldn't do anything about it.

"Itachi?" he queried; noticing that Itachi's head was hanging forwards loosely and his shoulders had gone limp. With a small frown, he disappeared from the room; back on only a few moments with some (mostly) clean rags and some water.

Approaching Itachi slowly, it became very obvious that the Uchiha was truly unconscious. His breathing was shallow, and he didn't react when Kisame pushed his head back to inspect his wounds. He knew he'd probably get in trouble with Hidan for this later, but he couldn't just sit back and watch Itachi bleed out.

Gently, he began to wash away the blood from his handsome face; pushing aside his long black hair and tucking it behind his ear. Kisame swallowed slightly nervously as he dabbed away the blood to reveal the ugly gashes beneath. He was already bruising.

He was able to slightly bandage the bad wounds to Itachi's shins and shoulder, having to tear the already ripped fabric to ensure that it didn't scab to his skin. Seeing him like this made him want to kick the shit out of Hidan –like he'd beaten the crap out of Itachi…but he knew that Itachi himself wouldn't have approved.

When it came down to it, he really didn't like violence all that much; unless it was about protecting Sasuke.

Kisame didn't know when it was that he'd started developing feelings for Itachi, but it had definitely intensified while the two of them had been partners. The Uchiha was a truly admirable man and did his duty no matter what. Not to mention he was fucking attractive. He'd never acted on it, because well –Itachi was Itachi; rich, hot, highly intelligent; every woman's dream…and _he..._well, he was bulky, blue and rugged.

Now, with Itachi sitting there; it was taking everything he had to not kiss him.

Screw that. This might be his only chance.

Quickly, Kisame leaned in and pressed a kiss against Itachi's bruised lips before hurriedly retreating and stalking out the door; slamming it behind him and resigning himself to observing through the one-way window. He cursed himself for his lack of restraint -or rather, for allowing his emotions to interfere. This was too much. He fervently hoped that Hidan decided what to do _quickly_ so that Deidara could go free and everything could be resolved.

But he knew that if Hidan had his way, Itachi wouldn't be being released. At least not in one piece.

* * *

"Kiba…are you sure about this?" Ino whispered nervously as Kiba's dog, Akamaru, whimpered softly from the back seat; indicating that there was definitely someone nearby. Kiba quickly looked out the window and saw that there were a few faint lights on in this particular building.

"It's fine," he assured her quietly, "We are going to get out of this just fine. Are you sure you're okay with this?" Ino just nodded twice. "Okay; what can you see? Akamaru; jump into the boot!" The dog obediently hopped over the back seat and into the boot as Kiba clambered into the back seat; eyes scanning the area suspiciously. It was still relatively easy to see, since the sun had just gone down, but dark enough to not be too suspicious. Ino joined him in the back seat.

"I see security cameras," she whispered quietly; pointing over towards the building that they were parked quite close to; the motor still running and the radio playing at a normal volume. "Not many though…and they look pretty crappy –oh shit! There's someone coming!" Kiba could hear that her voice was shaking a little; even though she was trying to put on a brave face.

"Okay –just…just relax," Kiba muttered. There wasn't time to hesitate now. He quickly reached up to cup her cheek before leaning in for a searing, deep kiss. Ino kissed back fiercely; fisting his shirt to channel her fear. He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips, which parted breathlessly as he began slowly manoeuvring her onto her back.

Ino wrapped her arms around Kiba's neck; gripping his messy brown hair as he kissed her harder; her legs parting for him to settle between. One of his hands ran down her side and slipped under her shirt; caressing her creamy skin gently. He dipped his tongue into her mouth and couldn't help but smirk a little as she gasped slightly as they continued to kiss demandingly.

All a sudden, something rapped sharply on the window and they jolted apart in shock; Kiba immediately winding down the window as Ino hurriedly tried to make herself a little more presentable.

"…What's going on here?" a tall man with slicked back platinum hair demanded; shining a flashlight in through the window at them.

"I –um…man, I thought…I…" Kiba remarked awkwardly; looking over at Ino as if trying to figure out some way to explain to the guy that he'd just come up here looking to have sex with his girl.

"You kids shouldn't be out here. You're trespassing on private property," the man snapped coldly, "Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops on you."

"Y-yes…" Ino stammered, "Come on babe…let's just…" Kiba nodded shortly; blinking away from the light as he clambered back into the front seat. Ino followed suit a moment later and he quickly sped off; seeing the guy behind them watch them leave with his flashlight raised.

"…I can't believe that worked," Ino whispered in shock, pulling out her phone for when they came into reception. "I can't…I can't believe we're alive."

" –You saw it, didn't you?" Kiba muttered, "…The blood on his knuckles? Shikamaru was right in tracing Itachi's phone…" Ino let out a shaking breath and he squeezed her hand reassuringly as she quickly dialled Shikamaru.

"Are you both okay?" Temari immediately demanded.

"Yeah…yeah, we're both fine," Ino managed to exhale; her voice shaking slightly, "We didn't get very close, and some guy had seen us coming..."

"You did very good," Temari assured her, "Tell us what you saw."

"Um; it's the biggest block," Ino stammered out, "There were lights on a few of the floors; looked like it was some kind of warehouse?"

"Cameras," Kiba prompted.

" –Oh yeah, there were security cameras," she added, "But they looked pretty old so they might not be very good. The guy who caught us –he had blood on his hands; like he'd punched something."

"Describe him," Shikamaru's voice interrupted clearly.

"Tall…big…kinda white hair that was kinda slicked back…" Ino frowned, "And he had like…purple eyes…"

"Purple…" Shikamaru mused, "Shit. I know the guy, I think –and if it's him, then Itachi was right to be suspicious. It sounds like a guy named Hidan that worked in the force for a while…" There was a small pause as Shikamaru and Temari appeared to be conversing. "Ino…was there anyone else there?"

" –I saw one other guy," Ino replied softly, "He was just standing over by the door that um, that Hidan guy came out of; I couldn't see him well."

"Hmm…" Shikamaru mused, "Okay; that actually gives me a lot to work with. Come home quick guys. You did really well." With a great sigh of relief, Ino hung up the phone and smiled at the sympathetic look that Kiba gave her.

"We just got involved in a criminal investigation," he commented with a slightly hysterical laugh, "We just were face to face with a criminal."

"Oh my god, Kiba; don't say that!" Ino snapped crossly; swatting him huffily before descending back into silence. "…And…just by the way…you're an alright kisser," she added in a mumble; looking out the window. Kiba felt himself blushing a little as he coughed self-consciously and added a, "Well, you're all right, yourself."

Back at headquarters (aka Shikamaru's house), the lazy genius was in the midst of mulling over the situation. At the very least, there would have to be three men; driver and probably two others required to abduct two reasonable-sized college guys. But there would definitely be more than that, and he had to plan for that.

It wasn't surprising that there were security cameras, but it really worked in their favour that they were old –likely poor quality. That could be used to their advantage…

"What are you thinking, Shikamaru?" Temari inquired quietly as his eyes snapped open.

"I'm thinking…we need to go shopping."

* * *

**Shopping, Shikamaru? What on earth could he possibly have planned?**

**Kisame's had to watch Itachi get beaten; hell, Itachi had to take the beating -but what's he going to think when he finally wakes up? Not to mention that Naruto's starting to feel a little bit...unusual... cabin fever, my ass. **

**In any case, things might just have to start... igniting...**

**Sorry if not exactly overly realistic; I write light, funny things, not crime usually, but I hope you're enjoying this anyway! Leave a review if you like; next chapter I *think* will be shorter, so should be up soon. **

**Love, always **

**xx K**


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, so we got everything you asked us to, Shikamaru," Tenten remarked in an exhausted voice as she slumped down on the couch situation in the Sabaku household's garage. "Are you going to explain, or what?"

"Soon, soon," he muttered lazily; watching as Neji took out one of the spray cans from a nearby bag and shook it experimentally; eyeing the car in front of him. He nodded twice; confident in his handiwork, before opening the garage door to allow for aeration.

" –There is no way this works," Kiba remarked in a deadpan as he appeared at the door, "Absolutely no way in hell."

"Temari _and_ Neji agreed with it," Ino reminded him from where she was sitting on the couch beside Tenten.

"Yeah; because we have _no other plan_!" Kiba exclaimed, "Does _no one else_ think that this is the worst idea ever?"

"I think I missed the part when Shikamaru actually told us what was going on," Tenten raised her hand slightly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kiba inquired flatly; gesturing at the outfit he was currently wearing, "I am in a cop costume. That we bought from a _costume shop_. Neji is painting my car, _like a cop car_. I know Shikamaru's like a genius and everything…but seriously?"

"You weren't coming up with something better," Sakura reminded him with a sigh, "And we're running out of time. If their security cameras are bad quality, then we might be able to fool them long enough to make them panic."

"Yeah, then Neji and Sakura can get them in there and beat their asses!" Ino chuckled gleefully. Sakura gave her friend a weak look, "Well, come on; I've seen you floor guys twice as big as you."

"None of them had guns," Sakura pointed out with a sigh, "Kankuro's finished rigging up some sirens upstairs by the way."

"Oh, so that's why Gaara's playing all his heavy metal," Shikamaru commented with a yawn, "Covering up the sounds, Temari?"

"Yeah; but he's also just kind of like that," Temari shrugged with a sigh; dragging some of their props from the bag that Tenten had dropped on the floor. They each had a cop costume; fake guns, badges and handcuffs to match. Hinata was in the living room with Suigetsu making fake body armour –that they had to remember was completely fake. If Neji was fabulous at art, then Hinata was a genius with a sewing machine.

" –But Kiba has a point," Temari muttered unwillingly, "This isn't one of your best ideas, Shikamaru…"

"Troublesome…" he sighed; running a hand back through his hair, "It was the most likely to succeed. From what dad's said about Hidan, the guy's unorganised; he's rash. This won't be a well thought out scheme. He'll be under pressure. We can use that to our advantage; and the fact that he probably thinks the cops are on his side will count for something."

"Sure…" Kiba remarked; tugging off his costume and heading over to the bottles that were sitting on Kankuro's work bench, "But are we really gonna Molotov criminals?" Shikamaru just shrugged noncommittally. That was not the reassurance that Kiba was looking for.

"This is going to look like a legit cop car," Neji assured him haughtily –daring him to question his art skills, "They aren't going to be able to tell that we're not cops."

"…Until they see us, and remember that we're college kids," Kiba sighed heavily. "Minus the black-belt and the regional woman's kickboxing champion –" He trailed off; hoping that the rest of them would get the picture that they were completely out of their depth.

"It'll be fine," Shikamaru assured him with a shrug, "Just trust me."

Everyone chuckled nervously. Sure, they trusted that Shikamaru was a genius, and his schemes had a way of panning out better than expected…but this was bold; even for him.

* * *

Naruto woke to the sound of low, repressed moaning, and bolted upright; accidentally hitting Sasuke in the chin.

"Watch it!" Sasuke snapped irritably; pushing the blonde aside from where he had been leaning on his shoulder to sleep. Naruto gave him an apologetic look and frowned again when he heard the moans once more. He looked at Sasuke suspiciously until the raven felt eyes on him.

"What?"

"…Are you making those noises?" Naruto queried curiously; inspecting him as though he were a foreign object. Sasuke gave him an irritated look.

"No," he scoffed flatly; jerking his head in the direction of the next cell over. "It's Deidara, and I _assume_, Hidan…from the noises he's been making. It's been pretty difficult to make much sense out of him."

"What? Is Deidara being tortured?" Naruto exclaimed in alarm; eyes widening innocently. Sasuke deadpanned.

"No," he repeated, and then smirked slightly to himself, "…Although for a while Hidan was apparently being quite a tease…"

" –A tease…?" Naruto inclined his head curiously. The raven just rolled his eyes as there was an exaggerated moan from the next cell over.

"…Looks like they're both awake...you hear that, Deidara?" Hidan's cackle echoed in Deidara's shipping container cell, "…Shall we give them a little show?" He let out a low grunt and Deidara let out a high pitched moan; followed by a, "_Fuck you, you fucking perv –_ohhh…Hidan…_nnnh…yess….just there…_" Sasuke coughed awkwardly and avoided Naruto's gaze; though he was watching the blonde from the corner of his eye to gauge his reaction.

The cogs were turning; he could practically see steam pouring from Naruto's ears.

_Oh my god_, Naruto mouthed in horror; Sasuke smirking as his eyes lit up with understanding.

"Are they…" he whispered; voice barely audible, "…Are they…"

"Having sex? Yeah, probably," Sasuke shrugged indifferently. Naruto clamped his hands over his ears in horror; unable to believe that the guy sitting next to him wasn't bothered by that thought. Deidara's moans intensified, and he quickly gave up trying to smother out the noises.

"…So…Deidara's having sex…with the guy who kidnapped him?" he inquired; wondering if he'd actually gotten the facts of the situation straight.

"It happens," Sasuke informed him.

"If you could see him, you'd be fucking him too!" Hidan cackled and Naruto shuddered.

"…I hope he doesn't try to…" Naruto swallowed nervously, "…Come in here and…" He rubbed his arms self-consciously.

"Don't worry," Sasuke's voice suddenly became very harsh and reassuring, "…If you didn't want him to touch you, then I wouldn't let him." Naruto blinked in surprise and looked over to see that the Uchiha's mouth was set in a hard; fierce line and his eyes were deadly serious. He truly meant it. The blonde actually felt a surge of gratitude for the grouchy raven and graced him with a beaming smile. Under its brilliance, even Sasuke had to crack slightly and offer up a smile in return –even if slight.

"…Did you hit Hidan again…because he head butted me?" Naruto ventured to ask.

"Tch…" Sasuke scoffed; looking away –a gesture which the blonde immediately took to actually mean 'yes, but drop it'.

It was a little funny, he supposed. He and Sasuke had been rivals all through high school and into college, but when it came down to it; maybe they were actually friends. When he'd seen Sasuke getting attacked on the street, it had been pure instinct that had propelled him forwards to try and defend him. His body had well…kind of moved on its own.

He wondered if it was maybe like that for Sasuke as well.

Naruto didn't want to admit it, but life would be a lot more boring without Sasuke there. He was a constant challenge to overcome; whether in sports, academics…or even just trying to get along with him. It was nice to have him here. Well, not _nice_ –this wasn't a nice situation…but it made him feel less…uncomfortable.

And even when they woke up cuddling or spooning…it was just reassuring to have someone there. Tired, and wanting to block out the sounds of Deidara and Hidan's passionate love-making (or hate-making, Naruto mused; there sounded like far too much cursing of each other for it to be about love), he laid his head on Sasuke's shoulder, and was genuinely surprised when the raven didn't shake him off.

" –I am making the fucking most of having you right where I want you…" Hidan was growling in a predatory tone.

"No…no more…" Deidara panted breathily, "I just can't…_nnnhh…_"

"I suppose we're going to have to get used to this," Naruto muttered miserably; feeling Sasuke's shoulders move as he swallowed before letting out a shaky breath.

"Yeah…" the raven muttered; almost like he was bitter and a little uncomfortable, "…Yeah…we're going to have to get used to this…"

* * *

As consciousness slowly returned to Itachi, so did the pain. He let out a low groan; his head throbbing sharply. Just to see if he'd magically been released, he tugged on his restraints. No luck. They were as tight as ever, and his skin was cracked and stinging.

He rolled his shoulders but was surprised to feel something on his shoulder. Managing to turn his head slightly, he realised that there was a dressing on his shoulder. He frowned in confusion and then looked up to find that he was being watched.

"How are you feeling?" Kisame inquired quietly as Itachi let out a low moan of pain.

"Like shit," Itachi snapped, "Where's Hidan?"

"Probably fucking Deidara again," he shrugged and Itachi's eyes widened; full of questions and anger, "No, don't worry; it's consensual. They were in a sexual relationship before Hidan left the force; though I believe the actual _feelings_ are one-sided on Deidara's part." He shrugged a little.

"He's…he's holding his lover captive?" Itachi muttered incredulously; unable to believe how insane Hidan had to be. "Why didn't Deidara just…get rid of him?"

"Deidara can never decide if he loves him or hates him," Kisame remarked with a sigh, "Although, from what I hear; Hidan's quite the animal in the sack." He shrugged noncommittally while Itachi digested this unusual information. Well, that had been an easy way for Hidan to gain information from Deidara and then kidnap him. From what he knew of the informant, he could have quite the temper…he wouldn't have thought he'd develop any kind of attachment to _Hidan_.

"What…who bandaged me?" Itachi inquired softly.

"…That would be me," Kisame replied flatly, and the raven looked up at him in confusion. "What? You make me out to be some kind of heartless criminal, but you're wrong…Itachi…"

"Do enlighten me," Itachi demanded and Kisame checked his watch. Hidan wouldn't be back for a while yet. He felt sorry for Sasuke and Naruto having to be anywhere in the vicinity of a horny Hidan.

"…I'm not here because I want to be," he muttered; averting his eyes, "Hidan's threatening to expose all our informants and everyone he knows about in witness protection –so we had to pay him off." Itachi's eyes widened. "He's been threatening to kill Deidara if I didn't obey him. I didn't…please Itachi…" Kisame let out a low breath and looked the Uchiha dead in the eyes, "Please understand that I didn't want to hurt you or your brother. We tried so hard to get Deidara off the street –so I felt I owed it to him to try help him. We are supposed to protect people, after all."

Itachi hung his head; his expression clouding over in understanding. He felt guilt rising for saying such horrible things to his ex-partner.

"…I'm sorry, Kisame," Itachi murmured, "For thinking so poorly of you. I should've known that you had a good reason for what you were doing." Kisame laughed bitterly, and he heard the bigger man moving forwards slightly. He flinched in pain when he felt something damp being pressed to his cheek, and was surprised to find that it was a moist cloth.

"Hold still," Kisame muttered, "It's fine. You were just thinking of Sasuke. You don't need to apologise. I'm the one in the wrong, after all." He held a rag tenderly to the Uchiha's cheek and Itachi let out a low sigh as he relaxed into the touch; closing his eyes. He was used to Kisame's presence and even when he'd thought that his ex-partner had turned into a criminal, there was still a shred of doubt that he had held on to.

His touch was surprisingly gentle.

He held still as the damp cloth dabbed at the broken skin of his cheeks and lips; his eyes drinking in the way that Kisame's brow furrowed with concern. He smiled slightly to himself.

"I know you can't let me go…" he murmured quietly; his lips accidentally brushing against Kisame's fingertips as he spoke. Kisame's hand twitched at the contact, but that was the only indication that he had noticed. "But thank you for this. I'll think of something."

"We were partners," Kisame shrugged, "I hate seeing you like this. When this is all over…you should come back to the force. It's not…it's not the same without you." Itachi smiled slightly as a big hand brushed back his dark bangs to dab at his forehead. It was quite an intimate kind of gesture; what with the soft way he was being handled, but Itachi found that he didn't mind.

"And don't worry about Sasuke," Kisame assured him in a low tone, "He can take care of himself –managed to punch Hidan, which pissed him off considerably."

"And Naruto? The blonde kid with him?" Itachi queried.

"They're both fine," he murmured, "A little battered, but they've stopped arguing so much." Itachi chuckled under his breath. From what he'd heard of the relationship between that pair, he'd expected there to be a clash of personalities. Sasuke never stopped going on about how annoying the blonde was, or how irritating he could be.

Now, Itachi had studied psychology at college, and above all, he was Sasuke's older brother. He wondered if his little brother thought he was stupid, or ignorant –or if Sasuke just didn't realise that Naruto Uzumaki was always occupying his thoughts.

Brief snatches of conversation with Sasuke's friends about the blonde had indicated that it was likely much the same for Naruto; though with less…_acknowledgement_ on his part. The pair was always bickering; always competing; and therefore always thinking about how to best rile the other up. It was an..._interesting_ relationship, to say the least.

Privately he wondered if it was maybe a good thing the two had been flung together in this situation. They obviously had some issues that maybe needed resolving.

And what better time to sort them out than whilst in an enclosed, pressuring situation... He looked up and saw that Kisame was watching him out of the corner of his eye. The intensity of his gaze made Itachi's heart lurch unexpectedly, and his breath hitched slightly at the proximity.

._..in an enclosed, pressuring situation...where adrenaline and emotions were heightened..._

* * *

**So there's chapter six; we're on the home stretch now; only a couple more chapters to go! Make sure you leave a review, maybe; ColorlessXrainboW I'm sure would love to know how you're feeling about their idea! **

**xx K**


	7. Chapter 7

**Long chapter. Violence. **

****Lemon warning****

**That's the long and short of it! Read on!**

* * *

It was finally quiet and Naruto could finally relax a little bit more. Hidan had come and gone again (quite literally) and he and Deidara hadn't been all that quiet. And it turned out that Hidan's dirty mouth extended far beyond cursing –some of the things he'd been saying had had Naruto blushing up to his ears and begging their captor to just stop what he was saying and get it all over with. Deidara seemed to enjoy it though, and Naruto had found himself growing a little bit hot from the sounds the pair of them had been making.

Sasuke apparently hadn't been affected in the same way. He'd just sat there silently under the blanket; his back against the wall and his knees tucked up to his chin; his eyes closed like that was enough to block out the sounds of vicious lovemaking –hate-making –from barely a few metres away. Even when Deidara had apparently been slammed up against the wall practically connecting with theirs, Sasuke had just flinched.

Naruto didn't know how he'd had the self-control. Sure, he considered himself a straight guy, but even he'd felt some sort of strange surge of arousal from the business on the other side of the wall. Was that normal? Had Sasuke reacted the same way and just been able to hide it incredibly well?

He gulped nervously. If Sasuke could hide it well…did that mean _he_ was being obvious about it?

God, that was so mortifying if Sasuke had been able to tell that he was getting…aroused…by hearing two guys having sex. He prayed that the Uchiha had just been so focused on blanking out the situation that he hadn't seen the way that Naruto was blushing like crazy.

Actually…on the note of two guys having sex…

Naruto coughed awkwardly and black eyes flicked over to look at him quizzically. Unsure what to say, Naruto just settled with another quiet cough.

"What?" Sasuke asked flatly.

"…Hidan's gone?" he inquired innocently.

"Obviously," Sasuke snorted.

" –And Deidara's asleep?" There was silence from the next cell over that he took to confirm this. "Um…Sasuke?"

"Hmm?" the raven replied sleepily.

"They were…having sex, right?" he commented awkwardly; already blushing. Sasuke just gave him an 'are you kidding me?' face and rolled his eyes. "I mean…well…how do…" Unable to find the words, he sort of gave a few hesitant hand gestures and found himself blushing all over again and stammering some sort of 'never mind'.

"Are you a virgin?" Sasuke inquired flatly and Naruto's eyes widened abruptly.

"No!" he defended in a hiss, "I just…only with a girl…I don't know…Are _you_ a virgin?" he shot back childishly.

"No," Sasuke replied with a small, smug smirk that for some reason infuriated the blonde, "…I can't believe how naïve you are sometimes…" Naruto just glared at him, but didn't take back his question, "Figure it out yourself." Blue eyes narrowed sulkily as he mused over the whole physical arrangement.

"But guys don't…" he tried to get out, but he found the sentence too embarrassing to finish and just ended up biting his lip and looking away. Fine; just be a bastard and not explain things!

"Why?" Sasuke inquired after a moment had passed; his tone one of amusement, "You looking to try it out?"

"No!" Naruto immediately snapped hotly; he didn't think it was possible for him to blush any harder –god, Sasuke had to think he was _such_ a moron right now! To be fair, he often called him an idiot or a moron…and dammit; it wasn't as if he _cared_ what Sasuke thought of him…

The pair of them was just beginning to drift off to sleep again; sleeping back to back on the small cot, when they heard a disturbance from the door end of the floor.

"That fucking brat, Hidan; thinks he can have all the fun," a slimy voice hissed coldly, "We'll see about that…" Sasuke was the first to hear the footsteps and the whispers and for some reason felt incredibly uneasy. He nudged Naruto in the back and the blonde recoiled from the jab.

"What?" he snapped irritably.

" –I just have a bad feeling…" Sasuke replied quietly; sitting up and hearing the door to their cell creak open. His eyes narrowed as two men walked in; the door slightly ajar behind them. Sasuke's eyes flicked to the door hopefully, but one of the men just smirked at him.

"Don't even think about trying to escape," he cackled, "It's not going to happen."

"What do you want?" Naruto growled as boldly as he could; hoping his voice didn't crack. There was something about these two men that he really didn't like the look of. Instinctively, he moved a little closer to Sasuke as they approached.

"Don't even think about touching him," Sasuke immediately growled; getting to his feet so that he was standing between them and the blonde.

"Ooh; his little knight in shining armour?" the first remarked mockingly as he stood just out of arm's reach. "How cute." He lunged forwards and slammed his fist into the side of the raven's face. Sasuke went careening backwards; dazed, as the second man stepped forwards and grabbed Naruto around the waist while he was distracted.

"Get off me!" Naruto yelled out aggressively as he was spun and his chest pressed to the cold wall. He elbowed backwards as best as he could but quickly found his fist trapped between his body and the stomach of the other man. His head was vigorously slammed into the wall and he let out a cry of pain; tears blurring his vision.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out; only to double over in pain as he was ruthlessly kicked in his already bruised stomach. He hit the wall and felt to his knees. Naruto's face twisted across to stare at him in horror as the Uchiha was viciously kicked in the side once more. And then he let out another horrified yell as he felt a hand slither down his chest and settle at his groin.

"No! Don't touch me!" he cried out; feeling something wet and hot slithering across his exposed neck. He shuddered at the realisation that it was another man's tongue.

" –What; Hidan not manage to _excite_ you?" the man whispered in his ear; his palm rubbing against Naruto's groin and his hips gyrating against the blonde's ass. Naruto gave another yell; automatically jerking forwards as he felt something definitely hard jab him from behind. This meant that he pressed into the guy's hand a bit harder.

"…You like that?" the man whispered; nibbling at Naruto's earlobe as Naruto cringed and felt tears beading in his eyes as the man's free around wrapped around his throat in a makeshift chokehold. He gagged and let out a distressed cry of Sasuke's name.

" –Get your hands off him!" Sasuke exploded; anger visible throughout his entire body as he struggled to drag himself to his feet; receiving a brutal knee to the face. He gave a cry of pain and again tried to gather up; only managing to make it to his knees before crumpling again. "Don't touch him!"

"And who's going to stop me?" the slimy man cackled gleefully; thrusting his hand down the front of Naruto's pants and gripping his cock roughly; beginning to stroke it to life. Naruto bucked wildly; trying to break free of the horrid touch; his breath coming out choked as the arm around his neck tightened; teeth harshly biting at his neck.

"Don't try helping him!" Sasuke's attacker sneered, "This is for that shitty ass brother of yours!" he lunged forwards again and slammed his fist into the side of Sasuke's head.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out again; feeling tears running down his cheeks as he struggled to shake off his attacker. The man refused to let go though; no matter how much he fought back.

"What's going on?" Deidara exclaimed from the next room over; banging on the wall of his shipping container cell.

"These fuckers are molesting Naruto!" Sasuke snarled out; howling in pain again as he crumpled to the ground.

"HIDAN!" Deidara yelled out as loud as he possibly could, "HIDAN! CALL OFF YOUR FUCKING DOGS!" He started screaming out wildly as Naruto collapsed to the ground on his knees and was jerked to face the asshole manhandling him.

"You got a pretty face," the man sneered; yanking Naruto's pants open and dragging them to his knees as the blonde kicked out wildly; starting to scream in terror.

"Help me, Sasuke!" he begged; tears pouring down his face as he tried to close his legs in shame whilst simultaneously kicking out at his attacker. His cowering blue eyes turned over to see that Sasuke was trying to crawl over to him; his face bloodied and his body battered. Anguish flared up inside him at the sight. Their eyes met, and suddenly filled with renewed rage, Sasuke lunged forwards; away from his own assailant and hitting Naruto's to the ground.

"You keep your hands off him, I said!" he snarled; trying to swing back to deliver a punch but getting batted aside easily since he was already weakened.

"You brats are little shits," Sasuke's attacker sneered with a cruel smirk across his face, "Come on; hurry up and take the blonde already –"

As Naruto's molester reached down; Sasuke managed to crawl in front of Naruto once more; his eyes alight in possessive rage. All of a sudden, the shipping container door burst open and Sasuke's attacker violently dragged from the room by his hair. There was a single gunshot and then a dull thud as something heavy hit the ground.

The other man stopped in his advance towards Naruto; turning around in horror to find that Hidan was standing there with his eyes full of mutinous anger.

"You fucking asshole," the ex-cop snarled aggressively; punching the man in the face with strangely inhuman strength before lugging him towards the door and shooting him in the back of the head; execution style.

Naruto let out a terrified whimper as the man's body fell; lifeless; dragging his pants back up as he huddled up against the corner; wondering what was going to happen next. Sasuke looked up as Hidan stood in the doorway with his gun. The aggression faded from the man's purple eyes.

"You kids okay?" he inquired; something sounding like concern seeping into his voice. "Oi! Uchiha brat! Is the fucking blondie okay?" Sasuke gave Naruto a quick look and the blonde nodded once. Hidan rolled a large bottle of water into the room with a brief nod. "Those fuckers aren't going to bother you again," he assured them quietly, "No one else will fucking touch you; you hear me?" He let out a low breath, and for a moment looked up at them apologetically.

"…I'm fucking sorry," he whispered, "I knew these guys were fucking sickos but I didn't think they'd –" He trailed off and slammed the door shut behind him; locking it securely. After a moment, he was gone.

"Na-Naruto…" Sasuke coughed; spitting out a mouthful of blood and crawling over to where Naruto was trying to shakily get to his feet.

"Are you guys okay, yeah?" Deidara inquired; sounding genuinely concerned, "What happened?"

"I think…I think Hidan just saved us…" Sasuke replied quietly. "Thanks for…for calling him…" Deidara was quiet for a moment.

"…I might protest…" he informed the Uchiha sheepishly, "But Hidan would never force himself on me, yeah. Even though he's a pig; he hates anyone who tries to do that to someone, yeah."

Naruto was sitting on the bed; curling up against the wall. He couldn't stop shaking. There were tears still brimming in his eyes and he could still feel those awful, horrible hands touching him. He felt dirty; so, so dirty.

"…Stop crying…" Sasuke muttered; taking a seat next to the blonde.

"I can't," Naruto sobbed back, "I can't…my skin's crawling. And I…I couldn't...hated seeing him hitting you like that." Without really understanding why, Naruto did what he'd recently resorted to doing to feel safe. He leaned on Sasuke.

And without hesitating, Sasuke opened up his arms and folded him into an embrace.

Immediately, Naruto felt safer; he felt secure. He felt as though Sasuke could protect him from anything or would die trying. It was something he'd just recently come to understand. No matter what happened; Sasuke had always been around; whether in front of him as someone he wanted to catch up to; or beside as a grudging ally...or behind him; giving Naruto something to smirk back to.

Something brushed his face and opened his eyes to find that a pale hand was brushing away the tears on his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked; deadly serious.

"I'm fine," Naruto assured him quietly with a brief nod, "At least now." He leaned up against Sasuke's bare chest and sighed deeply; breathing in the smell of what was just completely _Sasuke_. It was familiar, and it calmed him. He felt the Uchiha's heart start to race, and frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke inquired softly and Naruto found himself blushing and clenching his hands as he wiped away the tears from his eyes.

"Well, I…" he remarked in embarrassment, "I guess…when I'm near to you…it makes me feel better." He looked up and saw that Sasuke wasn't looking at him.

"…Are you sure you're okay?" he repeated flatly, "…Being so close to another man right now? After what just happened?" He sounded genuinely concerned, but Naruto just shook his head and sighed.

"It's fine if it's you," he found himself muttering honestly, before looking up and seeing that Sasuke was looking down at him with surprised dark eyes; his cheeks slightly pink.

Was Sasuke Uchiha _blushing_? Their gazes remained locked for a long moment, and Sasuke looked guilty.

"…I'm sorry I couldn't stop him," he muttered in a low, angry tone.

"It's not your fault," Naruto assured him, softly touching one of the bruises that was already developing on the raven's pale chest.

"I won't let anyone hurt you again, you hear me?" Sasuke growled in a dark, possessive tone, and Naruto believed him. Again, he looked up at him and felt a pang of guilt run through him as he saw that his cheek was bleeding from a new wound.

Suddenly, he became very aware that their faces were very close together, and that he was being held very gently; almost intimately. He could feel Sasuke's warm breath on his cheek and his bangs were brushing his face. Almost without thinking, he slowly leaned up into that comforting presence.

And unintentionally pressed his lips up against Sasuke's.

His eyes were closed, so he didn't realised for a moment; just felt a warm pressure against his mouth. But then, when that pressure began to vary; moving against his lips, his eyes widened and discovered what he had inadvertently done…and now Sasuke was kissing him back.

But he didn't pull away. Instead, he pressed back; his hands clenched against Sasuke's warm chest as his arms drew him in tighter. His lips felt like they were on fire; everywhere that Sasuke was touching seared away the horrible feel of that slimy man's hands on him. This was…this was…different.

As his eyelids fell to half-mast he could see that Sasuke's were closed. He'd never seen him look like this before; this vulnerable. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that he was kissing another man, but found that it didn't really matter…because it was Sasuke. While he'd been trapped here with him, he'd come to discover that Sasuke was his exception….and he was Sasuke's.

He wouldn't have felt comfortable spooning with Kiba; hell, he probably would've died if he'd woken up snuggling Neji. And hell, if he'd gotten into _any_ of the awkward positions with Gaara he probably would've cried! And it was similar for Sasuke, he realised. The Uchiha didn't let people get close; yet he'd got into bed with him, let him lean on him, and embraced him when he was scared. And now they were locking lips as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Sasuke's tongue trailed across his lips and he gasped slightly before it dipped into his mouth; their kiss deepening. Naruto, not really knowing what was coming over him, slid his hands up Sasuke's chest and wrapped them around his neck as best he could. As their tongues collided passionately, Naruto found a small moan escaping his throat.

He fell to his back on the bed as they broke apart; Sasuke hovering over him with confusion in his eyes. Naruto let out a shaky breath; blood immediately rushing to his face in embarrassment.

"Why did you do that?" Sasuke inquired flatly.

"I um…I didn't mean to…" Naruto defended quietly, "Sorry. But…but –_you kissed back_!"

"I did," the raven replied in a similar, blank tone, "And then you kept kissing me." Naruto covered his own eyes in the attempt to hide his ridiculous blush. "After that guy, how could –"

"Don't compare yourself to him!" Naruto snapped crossly from underneath his hands, "I hated being touched by him! I li –" He bit off the words he'd been about to say and turned his face away.

"What was that, Naruto?" Sasuke inquired; a strange tone to his voice that the blonde hadn't heard before. He pulled Naruto's hands off his face and turned him to look up at him. Naruto blinked back innocently; pretending he'd said nothing. Before he had the chance to brush everything off as a huge misunderstanding, Sasuke's lips were on his once more, and he was not protesting. He wanted this; wanted to be closer to him.

Sasuke's tongue slid back into his mouth and he kissed back harshly; his free hand reaching up to touch Sasuke's soft raven locks. He felt a hand sliding up under his shirt; fingers ghosting across his skin –and his breath hitched. A thumb roughly caressed one of his nipples and his back arched into the unfamiliar sensation. When Sasuke heard no protest, he drew back from the kiss and dove down to harshly kiss the part of Naruto's neck that that man had tainted.

"…Sasuke…" Naruto whispered breathily; lips sucking and moving against his neck –feeling much, _much_ better than that slimy weasel had felt. He could feel his whole body growing hot and his nipples hardening from Sasuke's touch. What was it about those pale hands that suddenly made him feel like this? Other hands…these same motions had felt dirty; _gross; _but when it was Sasuke... He let out a soft moan as Sasuke's tongue lapped at the crook of his neck; fingers pinching and tweaking Naruto's nipples under his shirt.

"…Hnn…Ohh…" Naruto breathed out; arching up into Sasuke's touch again as each gentle twist sent a sharp wave of pleasure through his system. He was shaking slightly; just knowing that his entire face was rosy with embarrassment; but he didn't care. With every kiss; every movement of the Uchiha, he could feel the memory of those awful hands fading. Did Sasuke know this was the case? Had he known without him saying that he was washing away the filth and replacing it with something better?

Naruto looked down; panting; to see that Sasuke was kissing down his chest; briefly pausing to lap teasingly at one of his pert nipples. He moaned again; his breath catching in his throat as Sasuke looked up at him at that same moment; eyes full of an exciting intensity that he'd never seen. It was…it was…

Well…Naruto considered himself comfortable enough with his own sexuality to be able to freely say, as a straight man, that Sasuke Uchiha was hot. As he arched up against Sasuke's sinful mouth, he found himself slightly parting his legs to either side of Sasuke's knees. Their crotches brushed against one another lightly, and he could tell almost without a doubt, that Sasuke was hard.

With that other man…that knowledge had repulsed him.

But this…This _excited_ him. He shifted slightly; their crotches meeting again, and as Sasuke pulled back up to kiss him, he rolled his hips down against Naruto's. Naruto moaned unintentionally into Sasuke's mouth. Why wasn't Sasuke saying anything? Why weren't they stopping?

Sasuke ground his hips against Naruto's again; slightly harder this time; a slow; sensual movement that had the blonde arching up to meet. Fingers resumed their teasing of his nipples and Naruto experimentally ran his hand down Sasuke's pale chest; seeking to mimic his movements.

Distantly, Naruto wondered if Sasuke's hands down his pants would feel different from that man's. That thought made him realise that he was getting hard too. He moaned a little louder; legs spreading wider invitingly. Then slowly, that pale hand slid lower; running across his defined stomach; past his waistband and into his pants. He shivered as it gripped him and began stroking him; his hips bucking up into the touch.

"…Touch me…" Sasuke whispered in a husky tone, and Naruto couldn't help but comply.

Sasuke's erection was hot and heavy and unfamiliar in his hand. Not really knowing what to do, he started stroking it experimentally; trying to replicate what he did to himself. If Sasuke's heavy breathing was anything to go by; he was doing okay; and what was happening in his own pants was definitely better than any girl's had been.

"We…We can stop…" Sasuke murmured softly; as he sucked harshly at Naruto's pulse again; feeling the blonde's heart racing beneath his lips. "…We…"

"…What…what comes next?" Naruto inquired back at him; eyes glazing with lust as the raven pulled back slightly. He seemed to take this under consideration for a moment before slowly unbuttoning Naruto's pants. This done, he looked up into blue eyes to confirm that it was okay for him to proceed. Slowly, he pulled off Naruto's pants; leaving the blonde lying in only his shirt; eyes averted in embarrassment; arousal clearly on display.

Sasuke sucked on three of his own fingers; lathering them with saliva, before leaning down to capture Naruto in a harsh; hot kiss as the first of these digits pressed against his virgin entrance. Naruto immediately squirmed in discomfort and shame, but the raven just kissed him harder.

"…Do you trust me?" he whispered; his voice hoarse with lust. Naruto just blinked back at him; nodding once and grimacing into their next kiss as he felt something begin to press inside him.

It was more uncomfortable than anything; Sasuke's finger _in his ass_. He was pretty sure he now understood the mechanics of what Deidara and Hidan had been doing…but this just felt weird. How the hell had Hidan made Deidara moan like that?

He let out a small grunt of pain as he felt the intrusion grow larger. He cringed as Sasuke did something with his two fingers; prying his entrance open and stretching the muscles. He felt a warm hand apologetically slip into his own and panted into the crook of Sasuke's neck. Those fingers began moving inside him; thrusting in deep.

And then suddenly, he cried out as a wave of pleasure, or _something_ rocked his body. He heard Sasuke chuckle to himself; those fingers thrusting up into the same spot a bit harder. He arched off the bed; hips grinding down against his hand. Whatever that had been…that was unreal. His free hand fell to the bed and clutched at the mattress as Sasuke's hands worked in tandem; one inside him and once wrapped around his cock.

"…Sasuke…Ohh…yes…please…" Naruto moaned; not even sure what was spilling from his lips anymore. A third finger pressed inside him, and that was painful; but when Sasuke reached inside him and hit _that spot_…that made it worth it.

"Mmm…" Sasuke moaned in a low tone; his clothed erection pressing against Naruto's exposed, "…You feel so…feel good…"

"You can…if you want…" Naruto breathed; swallowing nervously and spreading his legs a little more to indicate what he meant.

"I can't…" Sasuke murmured hesitantly.

"…I want you to."

With those four words, Sasuke's resolve collapsed, and he slipped out of his pants; withdrawing his fingers from inside him. Spitting in his hand to slick himself as well as possible, he locked gazes with Naruto and nudged his throbbing erection against his tight entrance. Naruto's breathing quickened as he felt the hot head of Sasuke's cock press against his ass; slowly pushing inside. He gripped the raven's pale hand tightly; eyes scrunched up in pain. Sasuke's eyes were closed and his breathing was laboured as he felt Naruto's tight heat clenching around him.

Inch by inch, he sank into the blonde; until finally, he was completely sheathed in him. He let out a low breath; Naruto's eyes cracking open as he pressed a soft kiss against his lips intimately. A pale arm encircled him as well as he could, and Naruto could feel himself melting again under Sasuke's burning touch. Slowly; almost tenderly, the raven pulled his hips back and then slowly thrust back in again; penetrating him so deep that he gasped; his arm clutching tightly at black locks.

Sasuke repeated the motion; feeling Naruto jerk underneath him as he grew used to the length inside him. The blonde cringed again; the object filling him uncomfortably large and stretching him unnaturally. But he could feel the way that Sasuke's muscles rippled with every thrust, and he savoured the feeling of him being inside him.

"…F-faster…" the blonde panted, and Sasuke eagerly obliged. Tanned legs wrapped around his waist as his hips picked up speed; slamming into Naruto; searching again for the spot that would drive him while.

All of a sudden, Naruto arched up again with a loud moan and Sasuke smirked as sweat beaded on his forehead.

_Found it._

All Naruto could do was grip Sasuke tightly as he felt the raven pound deep into him; his erection hot and hard; rubbing against his inner walls. He moaned loud; pleasure tearing through his body with every sharp thrust. Sasuke was _inside_ him; driving him wild. His neck was ravaged by hungry kisses; his skin on fire and his breath coming out in laboured gasps of Sasuke's name.

"Ohh…Nhh…Yes…Harder, Sasuke…yes…oh god…fuck me…" Naruto moaned lewdly; the cot creaking beneath the force that Sasuke suddenly slammed into him with. He was being pressed harder into that mattress with incredible force; Sasuke's hips crashing rhythmically against his; skin slapping against skin harshly.

"You…You like that?" Sasuke growled predatorily; viciously thrusting in deep and making him arch off the bed in fits of pleasure, "…Naruto…Hhh…You're so tight…" He firmly planted both his hands on the mattress; their sweat-slicked chests grinding into each other as he drove into him harder; the blonde sliding across the bed with the force. Naruto clawed at his back one-handed; nails raking at his slick skin as he felt his entrance opening; greedily accepting Sasuke deep inside him.

Moans echoed through the cell; the creaking of the cot intensifying as Sasuke found himself hurtling towards orgasm; Naruto's tight heat clenching and feeling unbearably good around him.

"I can't…" Naruto moaned; writhing beneath him; desperate for release. A merciful sex-god, Sasuke firmly wrapped a hand around the blonde's dripping cock and began stroking it in time with his ever-increasingly disjointed thrusts. He was coming undone; Naruto's moans of his name driving him closer to the edge.

The double sensation was too much for Naruto; the combination of Sasuke's hand around him and his thick cock filling him driving him to release. He threw back his head; body arching violently as he came across their chests; crying out Sasuke's name with the most intense orgasm he'd ever experienced. Euphoria coursed through him as his body spasmed in ecstasy; eyes glazing and lips quivering from the high.

Sasuke only managed a few more sharp thrusts before Naruto's tightly clenching inner walls sent him careening over the edge. He moaned in release as he came deep inside him; riding out his orgasm with several hard, bruising thrusts into his ass.

Spent, the raven collapsed on top of the man beneath him; breathing heavily against his tanned, hickey-riddled throat. Naruto's limbs around him fell slack and the blonde turned his head to press an intimate, grateful kiss against Sasuke's lips.

"…Naruto?" Sasuke whispered in an uncharacteristically gentle tone.

"Mhmm?"

"…As long as I'm here... no one else will ever hurt you; I promise..." he whispered. "I…I've always…" he began to say, but then he noticed that Naruto's eyes were glazed in post-coital bliss, and he was on a completely different planet. He just sighed; rolling off him; only to hold him close again; their hands locked romantically. That could wait, he supposed.

"…I know you're probably going to want to sleep…" Deidara's voice commented conversationally from the next cell over. Sasuke's brow furrowed as he dragged the thin blanket up over himself and Naruto's dazed form.

"…But thanks to you two, I've got to call Hidan to…_help _me with something…"

"Pervert," Sasuke snorted back.

" –Speak for yourself," Deidara cackled gleefully, "If you say you didn't get hard from hearing Hidan fucking me, then you're a dirty little liar."

"You don't know what you're talking about," he snapped back; glad that Naruto's eyes were closed and his breath had become soft and even, though his cheeks were still flushed.

"Don't kid yourself," Deidara smirked, "…Two straight guys don't just _happen_ to have sex -I assume that's what you were doing -no matter what situation they're in. A straight man and a gay man; different story. And since your Naruto didn't realise that sex with Hidan involved me taking it up the ass…guess who's setting off the gaydar?"

* * *

**How perceptive, Deidara. **

**Naruto found comfort and safety in Sasuke's warm embrace! Our dear Sasuke wanted to protect and hold our favourite blonde. But when morning comes and the adrenaline and emotions settle... well, what comes then? **

**Perhaps, finally, the makeshift cavalry? **

**[I'd just like to add that I love Hidan too much to make him completely heartless. Only a couple of chapters to go! Hope you enjoyed this one! Reviews are much appreciated; thank you to all those who have taken the time to leave one!] **

**Until next chapter!  
xx K**


	8. Chapter 8

"We are all going to die," Kiba hissed melodramatically as he nervously sat in the passenger seat of the fake cop car that Sakura was driving. He fidgeted as she started up the car; seeing four other fake cop cars roll up beside her.

"Don't be a baby," Sakura rolled her eyes, "It'll be fine. Just keep your face down; they've already seen you, and those tattoos of your on your face are pretty distinguishable…"

"Yeah, I know," he muttered, "I just wish we weren't busting into a criminal hideout with only Molotov cocktails and fake guns…"

"Well, we've got Neji and Hinata," Sakura reminded him with a shrug, "They're what, martial arts specialists?" She chuckled and looked over at him with a smirk, "…And don't worry, I'll protect you. Ino would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

"Okay, don't undermine my masculinity, thanks –wait, Ino said what?" Kiba inquired curiously, blushing up to his messy mop of hair. Sakura just grinned at him knowingly and tapped her nose. "Shikamaru's put his siren on; that's the signal –" She nodded and accelerated after the other cop cars; turning on her own siren that Gaara and Kankuro had manufactured. It wasn't a _perfect_ replica of a police siren, but it was pretty damn close.

The five cop cars streamed along the dirty road; speeding towards the abandoned industrial estate. The cars kicked up dust behind them in the post-sunset glow. Shikamaru had decided that now was the best time to act; enough light for them to be able to manoeuvre around and unfamiliar place, but enough darkness for discrepancies in their costumes to not be noticed.

Their sirens were blaring out fiercely, and the college students were trying to steady themselves. They trusted Shikamaru and his judgement, and their friends were in trouble.

Hidan was the first one to hear the sirens.

He was lying on Deidara's cot with him; not having managed to bring himself to leave just yet. The blonde looked so cute when he was asleep and not complaining his ass off. Despite what everyone thought, he really did have a soft spot for the guy, and it was a pity that he was so fucking heartless and had to drag him into all of this.

Hidan leaned over and brushed Deidara's hair back off his face; kissing down his neck. The tanned blonde let out a mew of sleepy encouragement; curling up against him a little more. Deidara would kill him if he ever accused him of being a snuggler, but there was no other word for it. Not that Hidan actually minded. He'd give off the air of someone wanting a quickie, but Deidara never really knew how long he actually stayed after they'd had sex.

But it was time to go now, or his lackeys would start getting suspicious that he was developing emotional attachments.

He slid off the cot; briefly lacing his fingers through Deidara's before clambering up and dragging on his pants. Feeling altogether far too sappy, he pressed a kiss against Deidara's bruised lips and pulled the blanket a bit further up over his naked form.

That was when he heard the sirens.

"Fuck!" he hissed, racing towards the door to the shipping container as he yanked his shirt on. "Cops…?" he quickly bolted the cell shut and began sprinting up towards the door to the floor.

"Oi! Tobi!" he hollered aggressively as he burst into the room to see his men already getting ready, "Cops!"

"I know," Tobi informed him, "We're on it."

"How many?"

"Five squad cars," he muttered, tucking a gun into his belt and heading for the door, "We'll get them if they try storm us."

" –Great; I'll get Kisame. Then fucking spread out and cover the floors. There's no fucking way they make it up to the prisoners," Hidan snapped; grabbing his own gun and stalking off towards the room that the Uchiha was being held in.

"Kisame!" he snapped angrily; pushing the door open and finding that Kisame was leaning against one of the walls with a scowl; eyeing the dozing prisoner. "We've got fucking cops."

" –What do you want _me_ to do about it?" Kisame inquired darkly. Hidan rolled his eyes.

"I don't want you to fucking kill them," he assured him flatly, "Just fucking hold them up or knock them out. They're not fucking getting in here, understood?"

"Completely," Kisame assured him mutinously. Hidan nodded once; his eyes narrowing.

"Get to it!" he growled angrily; storming off again and muttering all kinds of things about good help being hard to find, and why did no one take blackmail seriously these days? Kisame's expression darkened as the door slammed shut behind him.

"They're…they might just be kids …" Itachi coughed, and Kisame's eyes stared at him incredulously. Itachi looked up at him urgently; eyes full of worry, "…They're just kids…"

"What are you –"

"You remember Shikaku Nara?" Itachi whispered, "…I told his son I was coming here; hoped that he'd be able to tell his father…If there's more than one cop car, it's not anyone from the department. I told them not to trust anyone on the force…"

"You're saying that there's a bunch of brats out there pretending to be cops?" Kisame hissed, "Itachi; these guys are serious; they might get _shot_!"

"I know, I know!" Itachi growled, "I just didn't think that they'd do something like _this_! I trusted that Shikaku would have a better plan…" He yanked on his ropes, "…Untie me. I'll pretend that I got loose –I can stop them dying, at least, if I can get to them…" Kisame quickly checked over his shoulder.

"…I did _not_ sign up for this," he muttered, quickly lunging forwards; able to hear sirens now. "I'm not letting some kids get hurt by these fucking thugs." He quickly loosened the ropes around Itachi's wrists and ankles, and the Uchiha staggered free; clutching at his aching body.

"Okay…here's the plan," Itachi growled, coughing slightly as he began trying to walk unsteadily. "If those kids can't talk Hidan down, they're going to try get in. You are going to chase me as if I escaped, and I'll go and help them. Continue to behave as though you are working for Hidan…I might manage to get them out of here."

"Got it," Kisame assured him, nodding slightly, "Hit me."

"What?"

"Seriously, Itachi? I have to kind of look like I put up a fight. Now _hit me_," Kisame demanded flatly, only to flinch as Itachi's fist connected to the side of his face. He blinked in surprise but gave the Uchiha a dry look. "Seriously, Itachi? I'd forgotten that you can sometimes hit like a girl."

"Not _now_, Kisame!" Itachi growled darkly; taking another swing at his ex-partner's face but again failing to make any kind of dent. His arms were aching and he knew his punches weren't doing anything. Taking a deep breath, he drew his arm back a third time and threw all his body weight forwards into the hit.

This time, Kisame went reeling backwards, tripping over a piece of broken, uneven floor and toppling backwards. The momentum from Itachi's punch carried him right through; losing his balance and causing him to plummet face-forwards towards the ground.

Except that he never hit the ground. He actually landed straight on top of Kisame's fallen form; arms planted to either side of his head. He took a quick intake of breath as he realised that their foreheads were almost touching –it was a good thing he'd flung out his arms to save himself; otherwise they would've knocked heads and he probably would've passed out.

"Itachi?" Kisame commented in a low voice, and Itachi felt a shiver run down his spine at the sound of something so close to his ear. "…Nice punch." Itachi suddenly felt his heart begin to race –he wondered if it was a surge of adrenaline; urgency telling him he needed to go help the "cops" outside.

Or perhaps it was the fact that he was perched perfectly on Kisame's hips; hips that shifted slightly beneath him and made a short gasp escape his lips; right next to Kisame's ear.

"…Don't make that sound…" Kisame suddenly whispered; his voice hoarse as he –either by accident, or intentionally –shifted his hips again. Itachi's hands curled into fists as he fervently denied to himself that he quite liked that feeling. That short, breathy gasp escaped his lips once more, and that was when he felt a rough hand grasping the back of his head.

And then Itachi felt something against his mouth; something searing and rough, and it took him a moment to realise that Kisame was kissing him. Eyes and mouth widened in surprise, and he let out a soft moan when Kisame's tongue slid into his startled mouth. He felt a hand gripping his neck urgently, and for some reason, his knees automatically clenched Kisame's broad hips between them as he began to kiss back.

He'd always wondered if he was imagining the strange connection he felt with Kisame. When they were partners, he'd always felt drawn to him for some unexplainable reason –thought that maybe there was something between them. But Kisame had always acted so calm; so collected around him that he didn't know if it was mutual or just him.

When Kisame's hands had been on him earlier; touching him tenderly, with his face being so close, Itachi had almost snapped and done something right there and then. Emotions were…well, they were running high after all.

It was kind of a relief that Kisame had acted first; and he was really enjoying this.

He pressed his tongue hotly against the other man's; running a hand down his muscled chest and letting his other run through his dark, blue hair. Surprise was evident in Kisame's face as Itachi pulled back, pressing a harsh kiss against his neck before licking his lips; eyebrow cocked superiorly.

"…I think…I think we need to have a talk, when this is over…" Kisame remarked conversationally.

"Indeed," Itachi growled; getting off him and stalking to the door as haughtily as he could with such battered limbs, "…Over dinner, maybe? Now hurry the fuck up and chase me or I swear to god I will knock you out."

" –I'll give you a head start," Kisame offered; sitting up and trying to figure out what had just happened. Itachi just snorted, glaring at him as he yanked open the door and disappeared into the depths of the building. Wait, had Itachi just asked him out? He'd interpreted that right, right?

He'd just intended to sneak a kiss; how could he resist, when Itachi was making such delicious sounds in his ear?…but then all of a sudden, Itachi's hands had been on him and they'd started making out…He chuckled to himself as he got to his feet, but then his eyes hardened. He could speculate over what had just happened _after_ this was all over.

* * *

"Hidan, I know you're in there," Shikamaru called out through the megaphone as the squad cars all sat in a ring surrounding the front entrance of the building. The car doors were open like makeshift shields –like the cops in TV shows, and all their fake guns were raised; trained on the door. They'd rehearsed this part in Temari's back yard a dozen times, but they were all struggling to keep themselves steady.

"This is Officer Nara of the police department," he lied smoothly; glad that people always said he sounded like his father. "Release your hostages and no one needs to get hurt."

"Nara?" Hidan hissed from where he was watching the surveillance footage.

"…You know the guy?" Tobi inquired darkly.

"Yeah. Good cop," Hidan cursed, "Incorruptible. Fuck! How the fuck did he know I was fucking here?"

" –Maybe the Uchiha suspected and told…" Kakuzu remarked darkly, "What's the plan, boss?"

"We have a warrant for your arrest," Shikamaru announced, "We want to settle this peacefully, but we are prepared to apprehend you by force if you do not comply."

"Fuck this shit," Hidan snarled, "Let them in and pick them off." With that, he spun away from the computer screen and pulled out his gun –firing out the window to assure them that he was under no circumstances, going to play nice.

"Okay, it's time," Shikamaru muttered; tossing his megaphone into the car and grabbing one of the toy guns. "Sakura and Neji; we're kicking in that door."

"Got it," they both growled; beginning to move forwards.

"I'll disarm," Neji muttered to Sakura, "There are probably two guys waiting behind the door. Kick it in; aim for the knees." She took a deep breath and nodded once as the eleven of them present began slinking forwards.

In one swift movement, Neji and Sakura kicked the door and it went swinging open surprisingly easy. Faster than Sakura had ever seen, Neji was on the first guy; kicking him in the knee and shattering it, before twisting the gun free from his hand and shooting the second man in the leg before he could even move. Both men yelled out in pain; the one still armed swinging his gun to face the threat.

He hadn't counted on Sakura delivering a swift uppercut to his jaw before kicking viciously at his already wounded leg. He fell; knocked completely unconscious by the crushing blow as Neji caught his victim in a chokehold and steadily forced him into unconsciousness.

"…How the hell did you get so fast?" Sakura breathed as she obligingly punched the man out and Neji retrieved both guns. "I've never seen anything like that before!"

"Fifteen years of martial arts," Neji reminded her darkly as the rest of the group headed in, "Give your gun to Tenten; she knows how to shoot. They would've heard the shots." Sakura obligingly handed the hot weapon to Tenten as she and Neji began leading the group into the steadily darkening building.

From the sounds of it, the main floor was the third floor, but there would undoubtedly be people lying in wait on the first and second floor; and they didn't want to get surrounded up there.

So, according to Shikamaru's plans…they had to split.

The stairs weren't too hard to find, and without saying a word, Shikamaru headed up to the first floor with Tenten, Sakura, Kiba, Ino and Gaara. The others continued moving along the ground floor; seeking to take down any potential threats. Neji had given up his gun to Kankuro since he was much more suited to hand to hand combat. Temari, Hinata and Suigetsu were following in that squad; Hinata joining her cousin just behind Kankuro, since she also, despite not looking at it, had a great deal of martial arts experience.

Though she'd never had reason to apply it before.

Shikamaru pointed up to the next floor and Neji nodded quietly, remembering the orders –clear the ground floor then meet on the second to proceed to the third as a group.

The first floor was quiet, and that made Shikamaru suspicious. He peered through the door to the floor, since they'd found no trouble on the stairs. He cursed their luck when he realised that the entire floor was practically a giant maze of abandoned shipping containers. Dammit. Shipyards in movies always had these sorts of things.

"Stay close," Shikamaru advised in a low tone, and saw five nods that assured him that they understood.

Slowly, they began to advance into this shifty maze. It was getting darker, and he could tell that his friends were nervous. He nodded once at Sakura and Tenten. Tenten quickly sidled up to the first corner and peered around it. A shot rang out as soon as her head came into sight and she quickly ducked back behind. Shikamaru obligingly pulled out a Molotov from his backpack and flicked on his lighter; lighting the end and tossing it around the corner. There was a loud yell of pain and Tenten darted around the corner again; letting off three shots.

"Okay!" Shikamaru growled; the group of them running forwards as the man toppled down; one of his legs badly damaged by one of the bullets. They leapt over the flames that had erupted up and Sakura kicked the man's head into the nearest container; knocking him out.

On the whole floor, they found four men, including the first. The last three had rushed towards the sound of their injured comrade, only to be ambushed by Sakura's intense chokehold and a flying tackle by Kiba. The third guy had surprised them; shooting out at them while they were struggling on the floor.

Kiba let out a garbled yell; leaping to one side and narrowly making it to safety; a bullet whizzing past his shoulder. The guy he'd tackled was still conscious though, and grabbed at his ankle whilst trying to reach his fallen gun.

"Help!" he yelled out; viciously trying to kick the guy in the face. The guy looked shocked at hearing such an unprofessional cry, but was unable to say anything as a bottle connected with the back of his head.

He slumped to the ground in a pile of glass; completely unconscious. Ino looked up at Kiba sheepishly as Sakura deftly kicked their third opponent in the groin and then brought his face down on her knee.

"…Nice one," Kiba remarked weakly as Ino helped him to his feet.

" –Come on," Tenten hissed, "The rest of the floor's clear. We have to meet Neji and the others on the second floor."

"Got it," Sakura assured her quietly as they grabbed the guns of the unconscious men and ran for the stairs. "The people upstairs will have heard gunshots, so they'll be expecting us…"

"Someone get Hidan!" Tobi yelled; grabbing his own weapon and leaving the spot where he had been watching the footage of what was happening on the first and ground floors, "They're not cops!"

"What do you mean 'they're not cops'?" Kakuzu growled darkly.

"They're not shooting," Tobi snapped, "They're not even all fighting. Not cops! They're just fucking _kids_!" He and Kakuzu left the room immediately to grab the rest of their crew.

"How the fuck did a bunch of brats manage to get in here?" Kakuzu sneered, "What the fuck are they doing?"

"Don't ask me," Tobi growled; loading his gun, "But if they think they're being funny, then we're going to have to destroy them."

Itachi sprinted down the stairs to the second floor; knowing that Kisame was somewhere behind him. His body was aching, and he kept tripping in the growing darkness, but he _had_ to find these guys. There were shots fired from somewhere nearby, so he crouched behind one of the nearby corners; listening for the sounds of feet.

More shots came; more panicked this time, but as there were no cries of pain, he assumed that none of them had hit. There was a low thud of someone being kicked, and then quiet shuffling. He leapt backwards as a flaming bottle rocketed past and hit the wall near him –his hair ending up singed.

"What the hell?" Itachi exclaimed in surprise, and the footsteps stopped.

"Come out with your hands up and we won't have to hurt you," a familiar voice called out in a bored, serious tone. Itachi's eyes widened from where he had fallen ungainly on the floor.

"…Shikamaru?" he queried in surprise. There was a pause.

"Itachi?" Suddenly, Shikamaru Nara's familiar face appeared around the corner and Itachi let out a sigh of relief, "Itachi, what the hell?"

"I should be asking you the same thing!" Itachi growled darkly, "What are you kids _doing_ here?"

"Saving your ass," Shikamaru growled; reaching out and giving him a hand up. "You got out? Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Third floor," Itachi informed them, "Not sure what room. Careful, there's at least half a dozen armed guys up there. And they won't be pushovers."

"We can take care of them," Neji informed the Uchiha, walking forwards and handing him a gun, "We've cleared out the bottom floors."

"…You're kidding, right?" Itachi deadpanned, hearing heavy footsteps from somewhere behind him. Immediately, he watched as the college students swung into assault mode; leaping behind cover. Kankuro and Tenten immediately raised their weapons; ready to shoot, and there was already a Molotov sailing through the air.

Kisame saw the light flying through the air and was fast enough to dive comedically back around the corner just before flames rocketed up from the spot he had just been standing in.

"Fucking _Molotovs_?" he cursed angrily.

"Hold your fire," Itachi ordered in a tone that demanded absolute compliance, "Kisame, is that you?"

"Yeah…" Kisame grumbled, putting out the fire on the leg of his pants, "Jesus, Itachi….I thought you said these kids needed saving…"

"I think I was wrong," the Uchiha commented.

"Who's that?" Shikamaru inquired flatly.

"My old partner," Itachi muttered, "He's being forced to work for Hidan because they've got one of our informants –Deidara –held hostage."

" –Is he with Sasuke and Naruto?" Shikamaru inquired; all business.

"Yeah," Kisame informed them; still not coming out from around the corner.

"Okay; we're going upstairs," the genius informed him, "We'll get them all out alive. Itachi, are you okay?"

"I'll survive," Itachi remarked, gritting his teeth and joining their pack, "Kisame; time to swap sides."

"You got it," Kisame chuckled dryly, catching the gun that was tossed to him as they approached the corner, "Jesus, they really are just kids, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but we're kids who could kick your ass," Sakura commented flatly. Kisame had the feeling that he didn't want to try to contest that and just took the lead.

"…You kids come with me," Kisame muttered, "I'll focus on capturing Hidan; he's probably with the hostages; he's too violent for you to risk it alone, and Itachi, you're too hurt." Shikamaru just nodded as they quickly slunk along.

"Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Kankuro, Suigetsu; you guys clear second floor," Shikamaru murmured, "The rest of you, come upstairs with me."

* * *

"…What's going on down there?" Naruto inquired quietly from where both he and Sasuke were sitting with Deidara against the wall of their now-shared cell. Hidan had come sprinting in and flung the other blonde into the shipping container with them before slamming and re-locking the door behind him.

"…I don't know, yeah," Deidara muttered with a frown, "I just hear gunshots. Maybe there's someone here to rescue us?"

"Who would there be?" Sasuke snorted darkly, "Not cops…"

"Fucking shut up in there!" Hidan snapped; a touch of panic rising in his voice. He had heard the gunshots sounding from closer and closer; indicating that the cops were creeping closer and closer.

And then he heard yells and gunshots from the same floor that he was on. He gripped his gun tightly; hand on the door to the shipping container; ready to wrench it open if he needed.

From outside their cell, there was the sound of glass shattering, and Naruto, Sasuke and Deidara heard Hidan give a shocked yell of pain. Two shots were fired off and Hidan gave a wild yell in pain.

"Give it up, Hidan."

" –What the _fuck_ Kisame?" Hidan yowled in pain as he staggered backwards; bullet having grazed his shoulder, "I thought –"

"Your men have all been taken down," Kisame informed him flatly, "You're no longer the one in control now."

" –I still have…"

"No; you don't have hostages," Itachi added aggressively, coming out from behind Kisame; limping slightly but his hand remaining steady as he trained his weapon on Hidan, "You're going to release them right now."

" –Itachi?" Sasuke yelled out; recognising his brother's voice.

"You're a piece of shit, Hidan," Kisame snapped angrily, letting off a warning shot that skimmed past his shoulder, "Let them go, or we'll kill you right here. You've caused a fuck load of trouble for us." Naruto watched Deidara's eyes widen at the thought of Hidan being shot, and he began crawling towards the door.

"Don't do it, Hidan, yeah!" Deidara snapped angrily, "Just let us go! Don't get yourself shot!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Hidan growled; his arm shaking as he saw that there was someone else standing behind Kisame with another gun, "How the fuck…who the fuck came to rescue you?"

"…My little brother's friends," Itachi chuckled, and Hidan's expression was one of disbelief, "Yes; your little scheme was ruined by some _college_ kids with toy guns!"

"Toy guns…" he whispered incredulously.

"Let me kill him, Itachi," Kisame growled mutinously, "For how he treated you…"

" –Don't kill him!" Naruto suddenly found himself calling out; unable to stand the worried look on Deidara's face.

"Naruto? Is that you? Are you okay?" Itachi called out warily.

"All three of us are fine," he hollered back, "…Hidan…don't kill him –he saved us."

" –You're kidding me, right?" Kisame snorted darkly.

" –It's true," Sasuke confirmed, upon Naruto nudging him insistently, "Two of his men were hurting Naruto and I and he stopped them."

"…Naruto?"

"They were going to…they were beating up Sasuke and…and trying to touch me," Naruto assured Itachi and Kisame, "…He killed them; and I know that's wrong…but he saved us. Please don't kill him!"

"Drop your weapon, Hidan…and we won't shoot," Itachi informed him after a moment, "I find it hard to believe that you protected them."

"Those guys were pieces of trash," Hidan snarled, "I may not be above blackmail and beating a guy, but what they had planned is fucking too far."

"…Just put down the gun!" Deidara yelled out angrily, "…Do it…Do it for me?"

There was a long pause, and then there was the sound of something hitting the ground. Moments later, the shipping container was wrenched open and Itachi let out a sigh of relief as he saw his little brother huddling in the corner with two blondes.

"Sasuke," he breathed out, and Sasuke couldn't help but leap to his feet and drag Naruto over to embrace his big brother.

"…Tell anyone I hugged you, and you're a dead man," Sasuke whispered; unable to prevent tears from pouring down his face in happiness at seeing that his brother was alive –battered –but alive. Deidara pushed past them and saw that Kisame was gripping Hidan tightly and using his belt as makeshift handcuffs.

"You happy, blondie?" Hidan remarked bitterly, "I'm probably going to fucking prison now."

"Better than you being dead, you fucking asshole, yeah…" Deidara muttered, unable to help himself and grabbing the other man's face; kissing him harshly.

"Oh god," Kisame rolled his eyes with a sigh; letting them continue their kiss for a moment before dragging Hidan away. "Shikamaru; you can come out now."

Naruto suddenly found his handcuffs unlocked; moments before he was finding the life squeezed out of him from a barrage of tight, fierce hugs. He blinked in shock as he realised that the people all around him were his friends in what appeared to be cop Halloween costumes. Sakura was crying, and he felt relief pouring through his system; breaking free in the form of tears.

"You…you idiot," she sniffed happily, squeezing him tight, "…You made us worry so much! I can't believe you! Why did you have to –"

"Sakura…" Shikamaru sighed heavily, "Let him go; these guys need to get to a hospital; especially Itachi and Sasuke. When we get back to reception, we'll call an ambulance."

"I'll call the department," Kisame informed them, "Now that Hidan's in custody, he can't hold anything over us. Are you going to come along nicely, Hidan?"

"…Is everyone seriously dead?" he inquired.

" –Just incapacitated," Kisame assured him, "Girl with the pink hair has a terrifying punch." Sakura turned around and smiled sweetly; cracking her knuckles before delivering one of these horrifying punches to Hidan's face. He slumped into unconsciousness immediately.

"…That's for kidnapping my friends," she sniffed flatly. "Asshole."

* * *

Kisame sighed heavily as he tossed a very securely tied up Hidan into the back seat of one of the cars. There were a few ambulances and actual police cars crowding the abandoned industrial estate, and Naruto had found himself being fussed over by practically everyone around him.

"You do know that impersonating officers of the law is a crime?" one of the cops was informing Shikamaru seriously.

"So is paying off criminals and letting them get away with it," he reminded him flatly. "What were you guys going to do? We had to save them, and everything turned out all right in the end." The police officer sighed heavily and smiled dryly.

"You'd make a damn fine cop one day," he admitted with a sigh, "Your father would be very proud of you."

"…My mom is totally going to ground me," he sighed, looking around at his friends. If he was being honest, he couldn't really believe that his plan had worked. Everyone was alive -a couple of them had taken a few nasty hits, but Sakura's fighting skill, Neji's speed, and Tenten's accuracy at hitting targets in the leg had made sure that they had been able to reach their friends.

He took a relieved seat on the hood of one of the cars; holding his face in his hands. Thank fucking god. His friends shouldn't have so much faith in him. Things had turned rough on the third floor; their ruse apparently having been discovered and hence the thugs not being cautious. If they hadn't had Kisame and Itachi there...things probably would've gone differently. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but for now, he was perfectly content to just get some rest and make sure that Sasuke and Naruto were fine.

"...Are you sure you're okay?" Itachi inquired of Naruto as he was bundled off into an ambulance. "You've been put through a very traumatic experience –"

" –I'm okay," Naruto assured him with a weak smile, "Sasuke…Sasuke helped me through it."

"…I can see that…" Itachi remarked with a knowing look. Naruto looked at him quizzically, and Itachi gestured at his neck with an awkward cough. "…Hickey…" Naruto immediately slapped a hand over his neck; flushing in embarrassment. That was right. He and Sasuke…

"Don't worry about it," Itachi muttered sympathetically, "Get some sleep." Naruto sighed heavily, lying down on the gurney he'd been loaded onto. There were sirens still blaring as the thugs that his friends had taken out were dragged out. The cops couldn't believe that a group of college kids had managed to take down a criminal operation –even if it was an amateur one.

"I'll tell Sasuke you're all right," Itachi offered kindly. "You guys are safe now."

It was with a deep sigh of relief that Naruto and his aching body sank into a finally blissful sleep.

* * *

**And with that, they are safe. They are saved and rescued, and the bad guys have been apprehended. The nightmare is over! That's the power of friendship for you. **

**Apologies if fast; I didn't want it to drag out any longer than necessary, though I may add a flashback or something into the next chapter. **

**The next chapter will be the final one; so stay tuned to see what happens in the aftermath. As always, thankyou so very kindly for reading. **

**xx K **


	9. Chapter 9

**Final slash epilogue-esque chapter. Hope you've enjoyed the read; just needed a little something to sum everything up. Big thanks to ColorlessXrainboW for the request and the support; really appreciate it and the reviews you leave. I hope this story has been to your liking!**

****warning** Chapter contains brief lemon. **

* * *

The phone was ringing. Itachi slid his arm across the desk slowly, only to have his wrist gripped tightly to stop it. He let out a low moan and his hands clenched into fists as Kisame gave a sharp thrust deep inside him and sent a flood of pleasure through his body.

"…Let it ring…" Kisame whispered hoarsely in Itachi's ear, kissing down his neck and gripping his hips tightly. Again, he slammed forcefully into the lithe raven from behind; the edge of the desk pressing tightly against the Uchiha's hips. Itachi let out another moan; spreading his legs a little wider and pressing back; urging his new lover to thrust into him harder.

"It might be…Might be important…" Itachi growled, "Ahh…Kisame…Just…Oh fuck yeah…right there…" He could feel the bigger man's huge cock throbbing inside him; his ass struggling to, but eagerly accepting the enormous intrusion. It had taken Itachi about two hours of being back in his office at the police department for Kisame to visit him to say congratulations…then about three minutes discussing what had happened during the bust…and about thirty seconds for Kisame to go from standstill to pinning Itachi to his desk and ravishing him. Quickly, Itachi swiped up the phone and furiously growled, "_I'm busy_!" before slamming his hand down on the 'end call' button and forcing Kisame away from him.

Without missing a beat, the Uchiha spun to face the bigger man; wrapping his legs around his thick waist and falling back onto his desk roughly. Kisame slammed back inside of him and Itachi let out a pleasured moan; his back arching off his desk as the other man leaned in to capture a hard nipple between his teeth.

Kisame firmly planted his hands to either side of Itachi's head as slid into the raven with bruising force; pushing him brutally along the desk with each thrust. Itachi was moaning; his eyes squeezed tightly shut and his mouth agape; spouting breathy gasps. Rising again, the bigger man latched his lips onto his pale throat and kissed him harshly; Itachi squirming underneath him invitingly.

"…Kisame…Close…" Itachi breathed out; his hips again grabbed by huge hands as Kisame drove his cock hard into his prostate. "Fuck…Yes…" He grabbed his old partner's face with both hands and kissed him passionately; their tongues meeting as Itachi's back arched a final time and he came violently across Kisame's bare chest. He let out a garbled version of the other man's name and his hands fisted his hair aggressively as he felt Kisame release deep inside him.

Panting heavily, Kisame pulled back; wiping the sweat from his forehead and looking down at the completely sated, _naked_ Uchiha lying on the desk beneath him; still impaled on his now softening cock; hickeys marring his perfect skin.

"Fuck," was all he managed to say as Itachi slowly pulled himself into an upright position; wincing first as Kisame slid out of him, and then again when his thoroughly abused ass connected with the wood of the desk.

"Uhh…Itachi?" Itachi's eyes suddenly narrowed at the sound of his brother's voice, sounding _incredibly_ amused. "…I think when you went to hang up you accidentally put us on speaker…" Itachi cringed and pressed his face into his hands as the dial tone rang and Kisame just snickered to himself as he quickly cleaned off his chest and buckled up his pants.

"Come on Itachi…" he remarked in amusement.

"Oh my god…" Itachi whispered, "…How many are there out there?" Kisame headed to the blinds and sneakily peered out them as he re-buttoned his shirt.

"Everyone," he informed him, "Yup. Including your brother and Deidara …"

"That's it; I can never leave this office again," Itachi exclaimed flatly and then saw Kisame smirk over his shoulder at him.

"I like the sound of that," he grinned toothily and Itachi glared at him as he quickly got dressed. "Oh come on; don't pout…"

"Grown men do not _pout_," he snapped; cringing again as he stood with great discomfort. Kisame just looked on in great amusement as the Uchiha, his buttons in the wrong buttonholes, his hair out and a mess, and hickeys riddling his throat, flung open his door violently.

"And you didn't _hang up_? He exploded darkly; to a chorus of laughter.

" –It's actually my new ring tone," Deidara commented conversationally and Itachi glared at him mutinously.

" –You're a rookie. I can get you kicked out of the academy," he threatened coldly, and then glared at Sasuke crossly when his brother dared to smirk. Kisame emerged behind him; looking far too pleased with himself. Sasuke clapped mockingly.

" –Why were you calling me?" Itachi inquired flatly; deciding against trying to make himself look more presentable.

"Hidan's on line two, yeah," Deidara informed him with a chuckle.

"…That fucking…" Itachi muttered under his breath, snatching up the nearest phone and pressing the button to take him off hold, with a "What?"

" –Oh hey, Itachi," Hidan's voice blared out over speakerphone, "Has Kisame fucked you yet? Just wondering?" Before Itachi could slam the receiver down, Kisame intercepted and tactfully took Hidan off speaker.

"Hello jackass," Kisame greeted politely, "Just for the record, Itachi and I _just_ finished engaging in sexual intercourse, during which he received a phone call from his brother and accidentally put us on speaker instead of hanging up." He held the phone away from his ear as Hidan's cackling laughter blasted through from the other end. "Why are you calling?"

" –Have to check in, don't I?" Hidan replied. "Just wanted to say cheers to Itachi for…you know…not sending me to fucking jail."

"You should thank Deidara," Kisame snorted, "If it had've been up to me, you'd be in there for life. Deidara wouldn't testify against you…and because he wouldn't, Naruto wouldn't either. He seems to not want him to be unhappy."

"Wow," Hidan actually sounded genuinely surprised, "Fuck. Tell them…tell him thanks, yeah? I…I don't fucking deserve to get away with home detention."

"Too right you don't," Kisame sighed heavily, "But Itachi forgave you for the beating you gave him on account of you protecting Sasuke. But fuck up again and you're never seeing freedom again; you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Hidan assured him with a sigh, "Before you go, could you ask fucking Dei to keep his uniform on when he comes to visit me? It's a fucking turn on –"

" –Bye Hidan." Kisame ended the call simply, and added, "Deidara…Hidan really likes you in uniform." The innuendo was abundantly clear and the blonde; having decided to join the police force in the past week, was already enrolled in the police academy and was currently blushing in his uniform.

"Not that this isn't great and all…" Shikaku commented dryly, "Itachi, I just need to see you for some paperwork, and so you can finish your references for Sasuke and Shikamaru for the academy."

"Got it," Itachi muttered with a sigh as Sasuke stalked past him, "…Have a good day at school, Sasuke."

"I go to college, not junior high," Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes. "…You have a good day at work," he added smugly; looking pointedly across the room at Kisame.

"Their respect for me has plummeted, Kisame," Itachi growled darkly as his little brother waved smugly and stalked out of the building.

"…On the _plus_ side," Kisame chuckled, "…I think their respect for me has doubled."

* * *

"You should've seen it man, it was _totally_ wicked!" Kiba exclaimed dramatically; leaping up from where he was sitting on the grass, "Neji did this fucking _sweet_ kick –" He tried to mimic it, "And then he like got him in this chokehold and _shot a guy_! I mean in the foot...but, like…Neji, I swear…" He looked over at the brunette Hyuuga with new appreciation in his eyes. Neji just rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

"Come on, Neji, don't be such a stick in the mud," Tenten complained, "It's Naruto's first day back at class! Lighten up!"

"He has work to catch up on," Neji sniffed flatly.

" –Don't listen to him, Naruto," Sakura assured the blonde as he chuckled as Kiba tripped over his own legs trying to replicate one of Neji's 'moves'. "He's just as happy to have you back as the rest of us. He was worried too, you know."

"…You guys could've _died_ trying to help us," Naruto pointed out seriously, "You shouldn't have risk so much –"

"You would've done the same for us," Kiba pointed out with a shrug. "What are friends for?"

" –But…"

"We knew we'd get you back," Neji interrupted as a response, and that was the end of that. Naruto just laughed at him; appreciating the confidence, and leaned back gratefully as he surveyed his group of friends just sitting on the grass like they always did around lunchtime. It felt so strange to be back at class.

And it felt strange for Sasuke not to be there.

"So how are things with you?" Temari inquired; tugging on Shikamaru's hair as he decided to fall asleep in her lap. "Have they gotten everything sorted out?" Naruto nodded.

"Deidara's joined the police academy," he informed them, "And Hidan's on home detention."

"Only home detention?" a few of his friends exclaimed incredulously, "Didn't he like, kill two people?" Ino pointed out.

"…Yeah…" Naruto sighed, "But Deidara and I wouldn't testify against him."

"Why not?" Suigetsu inquired curiously, "Didn't he beat you guys up?"

"Yeah…but he killed those two guys to save me and Sasuke," Naruto muttered, "And you didn't see Deidara's face when he thought Hidan was going to jail…"

"You're a big softie, you know that?" Sakura teased with a chuckle; elbowing him playfully, "And what's with you, Naruto? You haven't asked me out all week!" Naruto looked at her for a moment and then blushed, "Don't tell me you've found someone else!" She was only teasing, but he averted his eyes guiltily and watched as his friends' mouths fell open.

"Oh my god, you have!" Ino squealed in delight, "Who is it?"

Naruto didn't answer. He'd actually been wondering himself why he hadn't bothered to ask Sakura out again. When he looked at her…he didn't feel the same. Sure, she was pretty, and she was nice…and though her green eyes suited her…he was finding himself wishing that when he looked at them, he was staring into deep black.

And her naturally pink hair was beautiful on her…but he'd discovered he was more attracted to dark hair.

It wasn't her that filled his dreams.

She was still Sakura; his first 'love'. But the more Naruto thought about it, the more he realised that, well…she wasn't Sasuke. Again, he blushed at the thought; only to discover that the girls were all looking at him expectantly; waiting for him to spill the details.

"What's she like?" Ino inquired curiously, "Did you meet her at the hospital? Is she blonde?"

"Dark-haired," Shikamaru remarked sleepily from Temari's lap.

"What makes you say that?" Tenten asked.

"…Call it a hunch," Shikamaru smirked; his eyes still closed. Naruto's blood ran cold and he self-consciously touched his neck where the hickeys Sasuke had left him with had finally faded. Did Shikamaru…? He saw the lazy genius' eyes open in amusement and he swallowed nervously. Oh yeah, Shikamaru totally knew.

"Is that Sasuke?" Sakura suddenly exclaimed; looking over his shoulder. Naruto practically toppled over with the speed that he whipped his head around.

The raven was stalking through campus with his bag slung loosely over one shoulder; ignoring the group of them sitting on the grass. Naruto pouted crossly. He'd been avoiding him since they'd been discharged from the hospital, and it was bothering him.

"Sasuke!" he hollered out; waving him over. Dark eyes looked over at him for a moment before ignoring him and continuing on his path. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he got up from the grass, brushed off his pants and headed over to intercept him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked irritably as he discovered that a blue-eyed blonde was standing in his path.

"I want to know why you've been avoiding me," Naruto snapped; hands on his hips.

"I haven't been avoiding you," the raven lied smoothly.

"Yes you have," he sniffed back, "And I want to know why."

"You _know_ why," Sasuke insisted quietly.

"No I don't," Naruto assured him; folding his arms and quite willing to make a scene about this. Sasuke glared at him before guiltily averting his eyes. "Sasuke; what's this about? Come and…and sit with us. Everyone's been worried about you."

"Really?" he snorted bitterly.

" –Yeah," the blonde rolled his eyes, "And I um…there's just something I wanted to say to you, actually."

_Here it comes_, thought Sasuke miserably to himself. He'd been trying to avoid Naruto for this precise reason. He was sure that the blonde was going to accuse him of taking advantage of him back in that cell –which he knew he had done. Naruto had been unstable…and…and Sasuke had let his feelings interfere. He'd hidden so well that he'd actually well…had a form of affection for the guy –okay, he _liked_ him; and had done so for a while. So when Naruto had been getting hurt, and being touched…it had infuriated him to no end.

And when he'd kissed him…Sasuke's resolve to never let him know that he felt anything other than friendly rivalry for him, had shattered. He closed his eyes; waiting for the cold accusation. _'Why did you do that to me?' _That was what he was waiting for.

"…Thank you."

_What_?

Sasuke blinked several times and frowned.

"I said…_thanks_," Naruto sighed; when it was obvious that the raven was confused –or hadn't heard right.

"Why are you thanking me?" Sasuke demanded to know in a growl.

"…Why shouldn't I?" the blonde raised an eyebrow and then looked away sheepishly, "I mean…you're the person who, you know; got me through all that. I think I would've gone crazy if I had been trapped by myself." He coughed awkwardly; unable to meet his gaze. "I…You made me feel safe."

"Safe?" Sasuke muttered, "…After what I did to you?"

"…What you did to me?" Naruto frowned, and then suddenly understood. "Oh. _That_." He was blushing and couldn't help it. Sasuke, however, wasn't looking him in the face.

"There's no excuse…" he growled, "I…I shouldn't have taken advantage of you when you were in that state."

"_Taken advantage of me_?" Naruto repeated incredulously, "What makes you think you did any such thing?" Sasuke was incredibly confused.

"So you _wanted_ to have sex with me?" he queried; not understanding.

"_Yes_, I wanted to have sex with you!" Naruto snapped, and then clamped his hands over his mouth as he realised that he had spoken far louder than he had intended and that that exclamation had attracted people's attention, "…I mean…" he lowered his voice, "I wasn't _opposed_ to it. Like you could make me do anything I didn't want to do," he added as a scoff; folding his arms.

The pair of them just stood there for a long moment; not really sure about what they were saying.

"…Why _did_ you kiss me?" Sasuke inquired curiously, and was amused to see Naruto's ears turning red.

"I…Being close to you made me feel safe," he informed him; knowing that he sounded kind of lame, "I didn't mean to…it kind of just happened –hey! Why did you kiss back?"

"Because I wanted to kiss you." Sasuke decided that there was no point in lying. That was the reason he'd kissed back; it was really that simple. But apparently, Naruto hadn't been expecting this response. He'd considered 'atmosphere', 'pity', 'hormones', 'sense of impending doom and despair' and 'comfort' as reasons for why Sasuke hadn't smacked him in the face for kissing him…but this hadn't factored into his guesses.

"A-Are you…Sasuke…are you…" Naruto inquired hoarsely, before looking around awkwardly.

"Gay?" the raven offered flatly. "I thought that had become abundantly clear." The blonde coughed awkwardly.

"…So…you say…wouldn't be weirded out if I…um…"

"…Liked kissing me?" Sasuke offered helpfully, and Naruto clamped his lips shut with a short nod. The raven raised an eyebrow and watched the blonde fidget.

"Just kiss already!" Shikamaru's bored voice called out from across the grass, "The awkward sexual tension is killing me!"

"Shut up, Shikamaru!" Naruto snapped hotly; refusing to be outed by his know-it-all friend. _Outed_? Where had that word come from? Sure, he'd started thinking about Sasuke more…okay, maybe a lot more…but that didn't mean that he was…

Oh, who was he kidding? Was it so hard to admit that he liked the guy? He'd grown so used to his presence; found comfort and safety in his arms…and had to admit that he liked his face. He'd tried to protect him; had suffered for his sake, and it had physically hurt him to see Sasuke being hurt. Okay…did he tell him that? Should he confess? How did people even go about saying 'I like you' these days…especially to someone of the same gender?

"You're the only one I'd do that stuff with," he found himself blurting out, before planting his hands firmly over his mouth.

_Real smooth, Naruto_.

"Um…come sit with us?" he offered sheepishly, turning his back.

"Naruto?" Sasuke queried suddenly, and the blonde looked back over his shoulder, just as Sasuke leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Wolf whistles went up as for a moment, Naruto didn't react. But as realisation began to pour through him that maybe these feelings he'd realised he had for Sasuke were mutual, he wrapped his arms around the raven's neck and kissed him back. It was only as his lips parted and Sasuke's tongue slid into his mouth that he remembered that they were in a very public place, and all his friends were currently watching.

He pulled back; breathless –not amused by the smirk on Sasuke's face. He swatted away the arms that were holding him and glared as best he could with such a fierce blush.

"_Bastard_!" he hissed, "We're at school!"

"So?" Sasuke remarked flatly as he stretched and began heading over to the stunned group of students sitting on the grass; the only one looking unsurprised being a rather smug Shikamaru. "What? I thought you wanted me to come sit with you?"

"Well not anymore I don't!" Naruto growled darkly; storming after him.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Sasuke rolled his eyes dramatically, "You like me. I tolerate you. Simple."

"You _tolerate_ me?" Naruto snapped, "You don't _spoon_ people you just _tolerate_. Hell, you don't have _sex_ with –" Again, he was suddenly aware that all his friends had heard exactly what he said and were looking at Sasuke for confirmation –still a little stunned that he was actually approaching him.

"…You heard correct," Sasuke offered; taking a seat on the grass between Suigetsu and Sakura. All eyes turned to Naruto and he glared down at the smug Uchiha.

"You're a bastard, you know that?" he sniffed, "I don't know why I even thought I liked –"

_God, that mouth of his was not being kind to him today_.

"So you _do_ like me," Sasuke commented conversationally. "Good."

"I never said –I was just meaning that I liked….um…kissing you…that's _all_," Naruto defended; knowing his argument was sounding weak. "You personally, are an asshole."

"Give it up, Naruto," Kiba chuckled with a shrug, "We all know that you've always had Sasuke on the brain." Naruto's mouth dropped open as his friends all actually nodded thoughtfully; accepting that this was true, "It was always 'Sasuke's an asshole' this and 'I'm going to beat Sasuke' that."

"Not to mention 'Why does everyone like Sasuke?' and 'What's so great about Sasuke?' and 'Sasuke got _this_ in our last test'," Sakura added.

" –And don't forget the 'Where's Sasuke's and how he always knows where he is," Tenten added with a sigh.

"…Been stalking me, have you?" Sasuke commented smugly.

"No!" Naruto snapped, "They're lying! Lies, I tell you!"

"Naruto, the whole reason you wound up abducted was because you followed him after class," Shikamaru reminded him flatly. They all laughed at that as Naruto pouted.

"…Fine," he sniffed, "…You're…_okay_, I guess."

"As long as you're only with me, then I'm fine with being _okay_," Sasuke smirked with a shrug.

"…Possessive bastard," Naruto muttered as he finally took a reluctant seat.

"…I don't get it –are they, like, dating now?" Ino inquired quietly to Sakura, who was looking a little put out that apparently Sasuke didn't play for her team. But she'd always known that Sasuke and Naruto each occupied a significant portion of each other's mind. How could she compete with that rivalry?

"Um…" Sakura commented as Sasuke apparently said something rather smug; with Naruto immediately getting offended and attacking him verbally as per usual –except that some of the anger was gone, and replaced with something else; laughter? Affection? She wasn't quite sure. But it was nice to have Sasuke sitting there; actually being a little bit social. Naruto always had been able to bring out, well, the best and the worst of the guy, back in high school. And now, perhaps, he could do it again. After that public display of affection, Sakura was forced to acknowledge that Sasuke held some deeper feelings for Naruto other than just irritation and rivalry, and now that she thought about it, she wondered how long he had harboured such feelings.

It was nice to see a smile in Sasuke's eyes.

"…Something like that," Sakura sighed, in answer to Ino's question. Sasuke and Naruto really were a special case.

Shikamaru sighed heavily; sitting up from Temari's lap with a yawn as Kiba yanked Naruto's satchel from the ground and leapt up with it. Immediately, as always, Naruto was on his feet in a second to defend his beloved accessory; except this time, the lazy genius watched Sasuke stick out his foot; sending the blonde face-planting straight into the grass. Everyone laughed; even Sasuke, who was pounced upon by a furious Naruto; an assault that he responded to by gluing his lips to said blonde and embarrassing all hell out of him.

He had an unread text from Itachi.

_Are they okay? _

Shikamaru looked up once more to see that Naruto was apparently pulling Sasuke's hair and yelling at him, with the Uchiha calmly telling him to stop being such an idiot whilst exchanging class-related information with Neji. After such an experience…yes, they were fine. Better than fine, if that was possible. He texted Itachi back with a small smile.

Well, this new situation with Sasuke and Naruto might be troublesome…but their friendship had never been simple to begin with. Shikamaru was glad that they had had each other through what they'd been put through. It grounded them, apparently; gave them something to cling to -both literally and figuratively. Now, they were safe, not traumatised by their experience, and back in the company of friends, and that was what was important.

* * *

**End. **

**I wanted to end on a happy, lightish note, and so there we are. This was my first crime story, so please excuse the fact that I couldn't bear to not have everyone in a happy ending (even Hidan). Much love for sticking with it this whole time, you have been ever so patient! See you next story!**

**xx K**


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